DANCING ARABS

Dir. Eran Riklis (104min, Israel/Germany/France, 2014)
Hebrew and Arabic with English Subtitles
Narrative
Mid-Atlantic Premiere

First love, school bullies, British New Wave … and SCUD missiles. This bittersweet ‘80s coming-of-age drama from the director of The Syrian Bride and Lemon Tree adapts two autobiographical novels by popular Israeli-Arab writer Sayed Kashua. Eyad is a gifted Arab teenager who wins the chance to attend a prestigious Jewish boarding school. Isolated and lonely at first, he soon develops close friendships and begins fitting in. Soon however, heartbreak, personal tragedy and politics threaten to destroy his adolescent idyll. As Eyad moves into manhood, he makes impossible decisions about where he will stand – and who he will be – in a divided country.

Co-presented by Israel Action Center at the JCRC of Greater Washington, Gather The Jews and Moishe House Capitol Hill.

The 5th Annual Community Education Day on Arab Citizens of Israel is presented in conjunction with the Sunday, February 22, 2:30 pm screening. Dr. Dalia Fadila, President of Al-Qasemi College of Engineering and Science, delivers a keynote address at 1:00 pm, followed by a panel discussion, the film screening, and a world cafe discussion afterwards.

The film is ticketed, but the other events are free to attend.

Eran Riklis is one of Israel’s most acclaimed film makers and has been working as director, writer and producer for more than thirty years. His previous film, ZAYTOUN (2012) had
its world premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and won the Runner Up People’s Choice Award. Riklis enjoyed wide international success with LEMON TREE (2008), winner of the Audience Award at the Berlin and San Sebastian film festivals and released worldwide.

“[T]he beauty of the film lies precisely in the sense that flawed human characters are struggling on both sides to get on with their lives despite being conditioned to a large extent by a conflict that’s perhaps much larger and more abstract than their own individual, concrete realities.” -The Hollywood Reporter