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National Geographic Entertainment Kicks Off "Amreeka" Screening Tour with Unprecedented Community Support
With the release of the acclaimed feature film “Amreeka,” National Geographic Entertainment is proud to be working with an unprecedented array of community and cultural partners committed to bringing the first Arab-American film made by an Arab-American to audiences everywhere.
In addition, the film was produced by a group of mostly Arab women: Jordanian-Palestinian-American writer-director Cherien Dabis (who shot parts of the film in the West Bank), Lebanese-Palestinian-Canadian Christina Piovesan, co-produced by Kuwaiti Al-Zain Al-Sabah and executive produced by Lebanese-American Alicia Sams and Levantine Entertainment. An 11-city film screening tour co-presented by these partners is currently underway and Dabis, “Amreeka”’s writer-director, is traveling with the tour. A list of opening theaters also follows.
“Amreeka” premiered in the dramatic competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; was opening night film at the prestigious New Directors/New Films, a program of the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center in New York City; and in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize. “Amreeka” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, Sept. 4, 2009, with a national rollout to follow.
“’Amreeka’ is one of the rare films that tells a story of courage and heart, with a healthy dose of humor, and perfectly captures the universal story of American immigrants through the lens of a brilliant Arab American filmmaker,” said Lisa Truitt, president of National Geographic Cinema Ventures. “We are proud to present this film to as many audiences as possible with the support of a large and impressive group of cultural partners, so that this story can be shared by communities everywhere.”
“Amreeka” is the first Arab American feature film to receive major distribution. The film portrays Arabs as they are: everyday people facing the same challenges that all other immigrants encounter. Film scholar Jack Shaheen writes, “‘Amreeka’ will take its place in film history as the first Arab American feature film to depict Arabs and Arab Americans as ordinary everyday human beings. It is the first such film to receive major distribution in a system that favors blockbusters over more sensitive indie fare. In ‘Amreeka” we observe a caring, loving family that is an integral part of the American landscape, coping with growing teens, house payments, overcoming discrimination, losing weight and just trying to fit it while maintaining a connection to their roots. The everyday problems of this immigrant family touch our hearts; I loved this beautiful film. Don’t miss it!” (Dr. Jack G. Shaheen is the author of GUILTY Hollywood’s Verdict On Arabs After 9/11)
Hany Abu-Assad, director of the film “Paradise Now,” 2006 Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee offers, “The film speaks in a profound way about many aspects of the Arab American experience. It is a very important film for two reasons: not only does it give us a chance to see our own stories being told, it gives other Americans an opportunity to empathize with our experience.”
Alesia Weston, Associate Director, Feature Film Program International, Sundance Institute, a program Dabis participated in, adds, “Amreeka explores difficult subject matter with such heart, warmth and humor that it can’t help but draw you in. You feel a great tenderness for the characters. You see yourself in them and them in you. Stories like these can make us feel like we are in a conversation with something larger than ourselves and a little more connected.”
“Amreeka” chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with her 16-year-old son Fadi, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small-town Illinois. Told with heartfelt humor by Dabis in her feature-film debut, “Amreeka” is a universal journey into the lives of immigrant families and first-generation teenagers caught between their heritage and the new world in which they live, and the bittersweet search for a place to call home. Written and directed by Dabis and loosely based on her own family’s story, “Amreeka” stars Nisreen Faour as Muna; Melkar Muallem plays her son. Also in the cast are Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Yussef Abu-Warda and Joseph Ziegler. “Amreeka” was produced by Christina Piovesan and Paul Barkin. Alicia Sams, Dabis and Gregory Keever were executive producers; Liz Jarvis and Al-Zain Al-Sabah were co-producers.
National Geographic Entertainment presents a National Geographic/Imagenation Abu Dhabi release in association with Levantine Entertainment, a First Generation Films Production, an Alcina Pictures-Buffalo Gal Pictures/Eagle Vision Media Group Production, produced in association with Manitoba Film & Music, Rotana Studios and Showtime Arabia.
TOUR SCHEDULE
August 17 – New York City Location: Walter Reade Theater
–Partners: Film at Lincoln Center; ArteEast; Sundance Institute; Alwan for the Arts; Muslim Public Affairs Council
August 18 – New York City Location: Museum of Modern Art (members screening)
August 19 – Irvine, Calif. Location: Edwards Westpark 8
–Partners: Levantine Cultural Center; Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area; Muslim Public Affairs Council; Access California Services
August 20 – Los Angeles Location: Writers Guild Theater
–Partners: Levantine Cultural Center, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Sundance Institute, Film Independent, Progressive Jewish Alliance, ImaginAction, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area
August 27 — San Francisco Location: Embarcadero Center Cinema
–Partners: Arab Film Festival, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, San Francisco Film Society and American Friends Service Committee, Middle East Program
August 29 – Dearborn, Mich. Location: Arab American National Museum
–Partners: Arab American National Museum; Green Light Film Funding; National Outreach; ACLU of Michigan; Arab Detroit and Mike Mosallem
August 31 – Chicago Location: Gene Siskel Film Center
–Partner: Chicago Palestine Film Festival
September 2 – Washington, D.C. Location: National Geographic Society Headquarters
–Partners: National Geographic All Roads Project; Arabian Sights Film Festival; Washington Jewish Film Festival; Muslim Public Affairs Council; Embassy of Jordan, Arab American Institute, The Jerusalem Fund
September 3 – Boston Location: Museum of Fine Arts
–Partners: Boston Palestine Film Festival; Grassroots International; Center for Arabic Culture; American Jews for a Just Peace; Northeast Regional Office, Amnesty International USA; National Association of Arab Professionals-Boston
September 8 — San Diego Location: AMC La Jolla 12 Theatres
–Partner: Cinema Society of San Diego
September 10 – Dallas Location: Angelika Film Center
–Partner: Dallas Film Society
September 12 – Houston Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
–Partners: Levantine Entertainment; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Houston Palestine Film Festival; Women in Film & Television, Houston
September 24 – Boston (pending) Location: Harvard Film Archives (pending)
–Partners: Middle East Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School; Harvard Society of Arab Students (pending)
Additionally, the film has the support of Levantine Cultural Center, American-Arab Chamber of Commerce, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee – Chicago, American University, Project Nur, Arab American Cultural & Community Center, Arab American Family Services, Advisory Council on Arab Affairs, City of Chicago; Center for Contemporary Arabic Studies, Georgetown; Golden Thread Theatre, JCC of Dallas, J-Street, Jewish Palestinian Living Room Dialogue, Jewish Voice for Peace, Middle East Forum, Middle East Institute Columbia University, Middle East Policy Council, Midwest Federation of Syrian and Lebanese Clubs, Outreach Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University; Arab American Action Network; Near Eastern Studies Student Association, UC Berkeley; PAWA SoCal, Ramallah Club of LA, Students for Justice in Palestine SDSU, United Muslims of America, World Cultures San Diego City College, MIT Arab Students Organization, among others.