CALIFORNIA

The world is indeed a global village where what happens in the Middle East becomes our living room fodder, and where news coverage of ISIS and other violent extremists bleeds over into how Americans perceive all Arabs/Muslims. At a time of heightened fear and racism, we offer a director’s screening of the documentary Just Like Us, the award-winning comedy conceived and directed by stand-up comedian and actor Ahmed Ahmed. A native of Helwan, Egypt who grew up in Riverside and cut his teeth in Hollywood, Ahmed Ahmed (Axis of Evil Comedy Tour) has been a quintessential Hollywood insider/outsider since the 1990s. In Just Like Us, he leads the audience on a comedy tour across the Middle East, in an attempt to build bridges across political and religious divides. See the film that won the attention of Barak and Michelle Obama and got Ahmed Ahmed invited to a White House dinner. Film screens at 7 pm, followed by a Q & A with Ahmed Ahmed at 8:30 pm.

General admission $10, $5 students. Seating limited, advance reservations strongly advised: call 323.413.2001.

More info, trailer: http://www.levantinecenter.org/event/screening-and-conversation-americans-and-middle-east

Cosponsored in part by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (hfpa.org).