Event

Flu/Richard III "An Arab VIP"

Flu
Riad Makdessi
Short Film | Syria,Qatar | 2010 | 34 min.

When a hardworking fisherman finds his supply of fish has literally dried up, he has no idea his life is about to change forever. The same virus that killed all the fish has infected his village with a strain of "happiness". People who catch the bug are laughing whether they like it or not. The local wise-cracking vagabond who used to laugh at his own, the fisherman's and everyone's misery, finds he no longer has anything to laugh about.

Richard Althalith "Shakhsiyah Arabiya Mohemma Jiddan " (Richard III "An Arab VIP")
Shakir Abal & Tim Langford
Documentary | Kuwait | 2010 | 70 min.

The camera follows a touring Arab production of Shakespeare's eponymous play Richard III as it moves from rehearsals in the oil-rich Arabian Gulf State of Kuwait to the charged atmosphere of a U.S. premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and on to the United Arab Emirates for a command performance at the behest of local princesses. In between, the cast and crew gather in various cities across the Arab world. The process of breathing life into their fictional characters takes shape in a way that reflects the politics and turmoil that surrounds them.