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Arab Window at the African Film Festival of Tarifa

This fall, Casa Árabe’s film schedule is dedicated to the recent productions shown at the AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL (FCAT), held simultaneously in both Tarifa and Tangiers, from April to May of this year.

Casa Árabe has been closely cooperating with the FCAT since it began its regular film series in 2007.

This film event includes two fiction feature films and two recently produced documentaries: Petits bonheurs, a costumbrist film set in the city of Tetouan during the 1950’s, by Moroccan director Mohamed Chrif-Tribak; the documentary Callshop Istanbul, a work by Moroccan-Canadian director Hind Benchekroun and Sami Mermer, a Kurdish-Canadian director, who shows us cosmopolitan Istanbul through the lives led in callshops by refugees and immigrants; Investigating Paradise, the latest work by Merzak Allouache, a docu-fiction film in which a young journalist woman travels through Algeria interviewing people about the way they imagine paradise, and the fictional feature film The Last of Us (Akher Wahed Fina) in which Ala Eddine Slim takes us to North Africa in a film without dialogue whose main character travels throughout endless spaces, attempting to cross secretly into Europe, having earned the award for Best Arab Film at FCAT 2017.
Arab Window at the African Film Festival of Tarifa
  • The Last of Us [Akher Wahed Fina]

    September 22, 20177:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    First session in Casa Árabe’s fall film series, in which the Arab films shown at the AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL (FCAT) of 2017 will be screened, beginning with this feature by Ala Eddine Slim (Tunisia, 2016, 94 min.).
    N crosses the desert to reach North Africa with the hope of secretly making his way into Europe. After getting mugged, he winds up alone in Tunisia. In the end, he decides to cross the sea by himself, heading for any European country he can reach. He manages to get a small boat, but the engine stops in the middle of the sea. As of that moment, N lives an adventure as amazing at is unique, in which he travels through different endless spaces, living powerful but short-lived encounters that change his own view of himself forever.
  • Callshop Istanbul

    September 29, 20177:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Hind Benchekroun and Sami Mermer directed this documentary (Canada, Morocco, Turkey, 2016, 89 min.), which will be screened at the Casa Árabe headquarters in Madrid this week.
    Istanbul, a city striding the space between Europe and Asia, has always been a place where merchants and travelers from around the world pass through. Today it represents the gateway for entry into Europe’s promise land for immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. Refugees from Syria and Iraq, cosmopolitan youths in search of a better future after losing hope during the Arab Springs, clandestine travelers from Sub-Saharan Africa, all meet up in a small space full of life: “callshops,” the small centers where they are able to make contact with their countries of origin.
  • Petits Bonheurs [Little Joys]

    October 06, 20177:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Fiction film directed by Mohamed Chrif Tribak (Morocco, 2015, 86 min.) as part of the fall film series organized by Casa Árabe at its headquarters in Madrid and Cordoba.
    When her father dies, 17-year-old Noufissa must go with her mother to live at the home of Lalla Amina, wife of a great dignitary in the medina of Tetouan. Once they have taken up residence at the mansion, a strong friendship forms between Noufissa and Fetouma, Lalla Amina’s granddaughter. The two young women promise never to let anything tear them apart. When Fetouma finds out that Noufissa will soon be getting married, she does everything possible to put a stop to it.
  • The Last of Us [Akher Wahed Fina]

    October 13, 2017 8:00 p.m.
    CóRDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9) 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    First screening in Cordoba during the film series which Casa Árabe has organized for this fall, when we will get the opportunity to see the Arab films shown at the AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL (FCAT) in 2017.
    The Last of Us [Akher Wahed Fina], by Ala Eddine Slim (Tunisia, 2016, 94 min.)  Fiction

    N crosses the desert to get to North Africa so that he can secretly make his way into Europe. After being mugged, he winds up alone in Tunisia. In the end, he decides to cross the sea by himself, heading for any European country he can reach. He manages to get a small boat, but the engine stops in the middle of the sea. As of that moment, N lives an adventure as amazing at is unique, in which he travels through different endless spaces, living powerful but short-lived encounters that change his own view of himself forever.
  • Researching Paradise [Tahqiq Fel Djenna]

    October 13, 20177:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Casa Árabe is showing this documentary as part of its fall film series. The documentary is a co-production from France and Algeria directed by Merzak Allouache (Algeria, France, 2017, 135 min.).
    Nedjma, a young investigative journalist with an Algerian newspaper, decides to take action over the increasing instrumentalization of the concept of “paradise” in extremist propaganda and calls to jihad which Salafist preachers from the Middle East spread on the Internet. She begins to investigate the place held by paradise in the imagination of Muslims. Assisted by her colleague Mustapha, she travels through Algeria in search of different opinions, gathered from the young and old, men and women, intellectuals and people in the street.
  • The Last of Us [Akher Wahed Fina]

    October 27, 20177:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Last chance to see this fictional film by Ala Eddine Slim (Tunisia, 2016, 94 min.) in Madrid, as part of the film series that Casa Árabe has scheduled for this fall.
    N crosses the desert to reach North Africa with the hope of secretly making his way into Europe. After getting mugged, he winds up alone in Tunisia. In the end, he decides to cross the sea by himself, heading for any European country he can reach. He manages to get a small boat, but the engine stops in the middle of the sea. As of that moment, N lives an adventure as amazing at is unique, in which he travels through different endless spaces, living powerful but short-lived encounters that change his own view of himself forever.
  • Callshop Istanbul

    October 27, 20178:00 p.m.
    CóRDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Second showing in Cordoba during Casa Árabe’s fall film series, which including screenings of the Arab films shown at FCAT 2017. On this occasion, the film shown is a documentary by Hind Benchekroun and Sami Mermer (Canada, Morocco, Turkey, 2016, 89 min.).
    Istanbul, a city striding the space between Europe and Asia, has always been a place where merchants and travelers from around the world pass through. Today it represents the gateway for entry into Europe’s promise land for immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. Refugees from Syria and Iraq, cosmopolitan youths in search of a better future after losing hope during the Arab Springs, clandestine travelers from Sub-Saharan Africa, all meet up in a small space full of life: “callshops,” the small centers where they are able to make contact with their countries of origin.
  • Callshop Istanbul

    November 03, 20177:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    As part of its fall film series, Casa Árabe is showing this documentary, directed by Hind Benchekroun and Sami Mermer, in Madrid (Canada, Morocco, Turkey, 2016, 89 min.).
    Istanbul, a city striding the space between Europe and Asia, has always been a place where merchants and travelers from around the world pass through. Today it represents the gateway for entry into Europe’s promise land for immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. Refugees from Syria and Iraq, cosmopolitan youths in search of a better future after losing hope during the Arab Springs, clandestine travelers from Sub-Saharan Africa, all meet up in a small space full of life: “callshops,” the small centers where they are able to make contact with their countries of origin.
  • Petits Bonheurs [Little Joys]

    November 10, 20177:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62) 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Noufissa and Fetouma are the main characters in this fictional film directed by Mohamed Chrif Tribak (Morocco, 2015, 86 min.), screened by Casa Árabe at its Madrid headquarters after being shown at the African Film Festival of Tarifa, FCAT 2017.
    When her father dies, 17-year-old Noufissa must go with her mother to live at the home of Lalla Amina, wife of a great dignitary in the medina of Tetouan. Once they have taken up residence at the mansion, a strong friendship forms between Noufissa and Fetouma, Lalla Amina’s granddaughter. The two young women promise never to let anything tear them apart. When Fetouma finds out that Noufissa will soon be getting married, she does everything possible to put a stop to it.
  • Researching Paradise [Tahqiq Fel Djenna]

    November 10, 20178:00 p.m.
    CóRDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9) . 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Last screening of the film series which Casa Árabe has organized for this fall, with this documentary by Merzak Allouache (Algeria, France, 2017, 135 min.).
    Nedjma, a young investigative journalist with an Algerian newspaper, decides to take action over the increasing instrumentalization of the concept of “paradise” in extremist propaganda and calls to jihad which Salafist preachers from the Middle East spread on the Internet. She begins to investigate the place held by paradise in the imagination of Muslims. Assisted by her colleague Mustapha, she travels through Algeria in search of different opinions, gathered from the young and old, men and women, intellectuals and people in the street. 
  • Researching Paradise [Tahqiq Fel Djenna] 

    November 17, 20177:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Sales in advance at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    The Madrid headquarters hosts the last screening in the fall film series which Casa Árabe has organized during the months of September through November. It will be ending with this documentary film by Merzak Allouache (Algerian, France, 2017, 135 min.).
    Nedjma, a young investigative journalist with an Algerian newspaper, decides to take action over the increasing instrumentalization of the concept of “paradise” in extremist propaganda and calls to jihad which Salafist preachers from the Middle East spread on the Internet. She begins to investigate the place held by paradise in the imagination of Muslims. Assisted by her colleague Mustapha, she travels through Algeria in search of different opinions, gathered from the young and old, men and women, intellectuals and people in the street.
  • Petits Bonheurs [Little Joys]

    November 24, 20178:00 p.m.
    CóRDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    The Cordoba headquarters is hosting this screening of the fiction film by Mohamed Chrif Tribak (Morocco, 2015, 86 min.), in the third session of the fall film series held by Casa Árabe in that Andalusian city.
    When her father dies, 17-year-old Noufissa must go with her mother to live at the home of Lalla Amina, wife of a great dignitary in the medina of Tetouan. Once they have taken up residence at the mansion, a strong friendship forms between Noufissa and Fetouma, Lalla Amina’s granddaughter. The two young women promise never to let anything tear them apart. When Fetouma finds out that Noufissa will soon be getting married, she does everything possible to put a stop to it.
FCAT is an independent film festival that focuses its efforts on the promotion and dissemination of films from Africa and the non-African Arab world in Spain and Latin America. The first edition was held in 2004, and ever since Casa Árabe began its permanent film events in 2007, it has closely collaborated with the FCAT to create joint film series and other activities at its Cordoba headquarters, where several editions of the film festival have been held. Since last year, FCAT is once again being held in its city of origin, Tarifa, and has opened itself up to the neighboring city of Tangiers in Morocco, in what amounts to a renewed effort to approach the continent of Africa.

With the organization of this film series, Casa Árabe is hoping to contribute to and increase awareness about the work and commitment by this Spanish festival to the promotion of Arab film-making.