The U.S. Government sends comedian Albert Brooks to India and Pakistan to find out what makes the over 300 million Muslims in the region laugh, but Brooks' activities lead to many political and cultural misunderstandings. Directed by Albert Brooks, 98 minutes, 2005. Refreshments will be provided.
This powerful and remarkable drama chronicles the true story of a young girl in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan who must disguise herself as a boy to save her family from starvation. The first feature film made in Afghanistan in the post-Taliban era. Directed by Siddiq Barmak, 82 minutes, 2003. Refreshments will be provided.
Amid a strict Muslim rearing and a social life he's never had, Tariq enters college confused. New peers, family and mentors help him find his place, but the 9-11 attacks force him to face his past and make the biggest decisions of his life.
2013 Academy Award Nominee, Documentary spanning 5 years of the struggle of one Palestinian villager against the Israeli Separation Barrier threatening his village, from the point of view of the 5 cameras destroyed in the process of making the film (Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi, 2011, 94 min.)
Back to the Square is a powerful documentary that reveals citizens' continuing struggles following the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Roughly six months after the "Facebook Revolution," Director Petr Lom explores the lives of five seemingly unrelated people and, doing so, addresses larger issues plaguing the nation. A poor, illiterate horse herdsman struggles against political manipulation. A rural woman is forced to contend with tremendous sexual discrimination. A taxi driver relays his brutal experience in prison as a victim of police corruption.
We watched the news headlines as a nation's youth took to the streets to demand justice. We added a ribbon to our Twitter defaults to show support for the protesters. This is not the story of Egypt, Libya, or Syria, but of the movement that started it all: the Green Revolution in Iran. An anonymous filmmaker living virtually in Iran tells the story of the 2009-2010 election protests by sharing with us his personal archives of YouTube videos, tweets, emails, and other brief clips of the chaos that authorities tried to shield from our eyes.
Experience the overthrow of a 30-year regime of oppression, corruption, and abuse in Stefano Savona's documentary, Tahir: Liberation Square. Savona introduces us to young Egyptians who, day by day, come to the Square, chanting, marching and discussing the bright future of a free Egypt. We feel their exhilaration during an inspirational speech by Google executive Wael Ghonim, whose Facebook page helped spark the revolution. We feel their anger as an ex-convict admits that Mubarak hired prisoners as thugs to quell the demonstrators.
Center for Russian and East European Studies, University of Pittsburgh
In this colorful modern-day parable of good and evil, a humble village electrician devotes his compassion and ingenuity to destitute
neighbors in a wind-swept valley of Kyrgyzstan. Played with wry humanity by writer-director Aktan Arym Kubat, the trusting Mr. Light
strikes a suspect bargain with a rich developer running for local office, as unemployment threatens the survival of the community.
Stoking a dream to supply wind-generated electricity to the whole valley, the modest visionary comes up against an increasingly dark
In 10 short episodes, 10 Egyptian directors imagine different narratives of the first 18 days of the Egyptian Revolution, culminating in the ouster of Mubarak (10 directors, 2011, 125 min).
