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Autumn Cinema in Madrid
From September 04, 2013 until December 13, 2013
Starting in October, we will be bringing the best of Arab cinema back to the big screen. We will be presenting three stirring films: The Source, about a group of women who find an infallible way to rebel against the status quo; The Green Bicycle, the first film directed by a Saudi woman, which tells the story of a fearless girl who attempts to get the bicycle she dreams of by any means possible; and The Mosque, a somewhat surrealist comedy feature film about a village that does not want to get rid of the stage decorations which it gave home to for the filming of a movie.
The Source took part in the official section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and was nominated for the Palme d’Or for Best Director. It also competed in France’s César Awards in the categories of Best Actress, for Leïla Bekhti, and Best Costume Design, in 2012.The Green Bicycle, its director’s premiere work, has been very well received at international festivals: it was named Best Film at the Dubai and Venice Festivals and was nominated for the British Film Institute Awards in 2012. It was the winner in the “Directors to Watch” category in Palm Springs and was awarded at the Rotterdam Festival in 2013. As for The Mosque, it won the Bronze Tanit Prize at the Carthage Film Festival, as well as a special mention by the jury at the Festival of San Sebastián in 2010. It has also taken part in the International Mediterranean Film Festival in Montpellier and the film festival of Tetouan.
The films will be shown at the Casa Árabe Auditorium in Madrid (at Calle Alcalá, 62) at 7:30 p.m. in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish. Numbered seating. Tickets will be put on sale soon through this website. If, for technical reasons, you are unable to buy tickets through the website, you may purchase them at the box office starting one hour before the film is screened. Price: 3 euros, general entrance ticket at box office. 2 euros for purchases on the Internet and for persons who are officially unemployed, students of the Arabic language center and youth card holders. You must demonstrate that you hold the status in question by showing the proper document to receive the discount.
The Source (La Source des Femmes), by Radu Mihaileanu (Belgium, Italy and France, 2010, 136 minutes).
In a small Middle Eastern village, tradition requires women to go out and get water under the burning sun at a water source which springs near the top of a mountain. Leila, a young married woman, proposes to the other women that they go on a lovemaking strike until their husbands decide to help them out with the task of bringing water to the village.
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The Green Bicycle, by Haifa Al-Mansour (Saudi Arabia and Germany, 2012, 100 minutes).
Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl who lives in the suburbs of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun and enterprising and always reaches the limits between what can be done and the prohibited. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighbor who she is not supposed to be playing with, Wadjda sees a pretty bicycle for sale. She desperately wants to get the bicycle so that she can beat Abdullah in a race.
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The Mosque, by Daoud Aoulad-Syad (France and Morocco, 2010, 85 minutes).
For the filming of this director’s prior movie, Waiting for Pasolini (En attendant Pasolini), movie sets were built on plots of land rented from the inhabitants of a small town, and a mosque was built on a parcel belonging to Moha, one of the local residents. When the filming has finished, the crew leaves the village. The residents knock down all of the movie sets except for the mosque, which had become a true place of worship for the townspeople. However, for Moha this is a disaster, because it is the plot of land where he grew the crops he needed to feed his family.
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Calendar of screenings
| Friday, October 11 and Friday, December 13 | The Source (La Source des Femmes) |
| Friday October 18 and November 15 | The Green Bicycle |
| Friday 25 October and November 22 | The Mosque |
The films will be shown at the Casa Árabe Auditorium in Madrid (at Calle Alcalá, 62) at 7:30 p.m. in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish. Numbered seating. Tickets will be put on sale soon through this website. If, for technical reasons, you are unable to buy tickets through the website, you may purchase them at the box office starting one hour before the film is screened. Price: 3 euros, general entrance ticket at box office. 2 euros for purchases on the Internet and for persons who are officially unemployed, students of the Arabic language center and youth card holders. You must demonstrate that you hold the status in question by showing the proper document to receive the discount.
Synopsis
The Source (La Source des Femmes), by Radu Mihaileanu (Belgium, Italy and France, 2010, 136 minutes).In a small Middle Eastern village, tradition requires women to go out and get water under the burning sun at a water source which springs near the top of a mountain. Leila, a young married woman, proposes to the other women that they go on a lovemaking strike until their husbands decide to help them out with the task of bringing water to the village.
Click here to see a preview
The Green Bicycle, by Haifa Al-Mansour (Saudi Arabia and Germany, 2012, 100 minutes).Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl who lives in the suburbs of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun and enterprising and always reaches the limits between what can be done and the prohibited. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighbor who she is not supposed to be playing with, Wadjda sees a pretty bicycle for sale. She desperately wants to get the bicycle so that she can beat Abdullah in a race.
Click here to see a preview
The Mosque, by Daoud Aoulad-Syad (France and Morocco, 2010, 85 minutes).For the filming of this director’s prior movie, Waiting for Pasolini (En attendant Pasolini), movie sets were built on plots of land rented from the inhabitants of a small town, and a mosque was built on a parcel belonging to Moha, one of the local residents. When the filming has finished, the crew leaves the village. The residents knock down all of the movie sets except for the mosque, which had become a true place of worship for the townspeople. However, for Moha this is a disaster, because it is the plot of land where he grew the crops he needed to feed his family.
Click here to see a preview
