Arab Film Weekend Lineup Announced, Tickets Now on Sale

For the third year, BPFF is proud to partner with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to present a survey of the very best contemporary films from the Arab region of North Africa and the Middle East. For newcomers to Arab cinema or experienced fans, this mini-festival is not to be missed.

Screening the weekend of June 15 to 17, this year’s lineup highlights female directors and protagonists, including Kaouther Ben Hania’s astonishing crime drama Beauty and the Dogs, as well as Widad Shafakoj’s documentary 17, which follows the Jordanian under-17 women’s soccer team as they prepare for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.

Tickets for the special series are now on sale!

Kaouther Ben Hania
Tunisia
2017 | Drama | 100 min
Arabic with English subtitles

When Mariam, a young Tunisian woman, is raped by police officers after leaving a party, she is propelled into a harrowing night in which she must fight for her rights even though justice lies on the side of her tormentors. Employing impressive cinematic techniques and anchored by a tour-de-force performance from newcomer Mariam Al Ferjani, Kaouther Ben Hania’s Beauty and the Dogs tells an urgent, unapologetic, and important story head-on. A rare, startling film from a female Tunisian director, it’s a striking societal critique and a forcefully feminist rallying cry.

Buy Tickets: 
Friday, June 15, 3:30 pm
Saturday, June 16, 6:30 pm

Sophie Boutros
Lebanon
2016 | Drama | 93 min
Arabic with English subtitles

This heartwarming comedy follows Thérèse, the mayor’s wife in a Lebanese village, as she cheerfully prepares for a first visit from her daughter’s new fiancé and his parents. As she prepares in the kitchen, Thérèse shares the news with her beloved brother, who has a habit of popping up in every corner of the house despite the fact that he was killed 20 years ago by a Syrian bomb. When the fiancé and his parents arrive on their doorstep, Thérèse is shocked to discover they are Syrian.

Buy Tickets:
Friday, June 15, 6:00 pm
Saturday, June 16, 12:00 pm

Amr Salama
Egypt
2017 | Drama | 93 min
Arabic with English subtitles

On June 25, 2009, the news of Michael Jackson’s death took the world by storm, deeply affecting fans all over the world – including Khaled, an Egyptian Islamic cleric whose nickname was “Jackson” during his school days because of his love for the King of Pop. The superstar’s death sparks a crisis of faith and emotions for Khaled, who is transported back to his MTV-saturated youth when he worshipped (and emulated) the pop star’s every move. Khaled discovers that his reverence for Jacko has roots in his troubled childhood. Can he reconcile his deep-seated infatuation of pop music with his religious calling?
Told in a tender tone and with loving comic touches, this feel-good drama profiles an everyday hero who has the courage to seek out how to live a meaningful life by starting with the man in the mirror.

Egypt’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film for the 90th Academy Awards (2018)

Buy Tickets:
Friday, June 15, 8:00 pm
Sunday, June 17, 1:00 pm

Widad Shafakoj
Jordan
2017 | Documentary | 73 min
Arabic with English subtitles

17 follows the Jordanian under-17 women’s soccer team as they prepare for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016. Coming from different backgrounds, each of the girls has faced a different set of challenges as a national team player. Now they come together to face their biggest challenge yet. The film is a social exploration of the lives of young women who are passionate about playing a sport they have been told was only for men.

17 is preceded by the short Gaza by Her, by May Odeh and Riham al Ghazali (Palestine). A tribute to all the women in Gaza, this film introduces us to a singer, a fashion designer, an activist, and a mother. All are passionate about realizing their dreams and strive for a better future.

Buy Tickets:
Saturday, June 16, 2:00 pm
Sunday, June 17, 11:00 am

Karim Moussaoui
Algeria
2017 | Drama | 115 min
Arabic with English subtitles

In Algeria, past and present collide in the lives of a newly wealthy property developer, a young woman torn between the path of reason and sentiment, and an ambitious neurologist impeded by wartime wrongdoings. These three interconnected stories plunge us into the human soul of contemporary Algeria still haunted by a civil war that engulfed the country throughout the 1990s and beautifully showcase the vastness of the Algerian landscape.

Buy Tickets:
Saturday, June 16, 4:00 pm
Sunday, June 17, 3:00 pm

Tickets to all AFW films are $9 for MFA members, $11 for MFA non-members.

NOW ON SALE on the MFA web site. 

To order tickets by phone, call 1.800.440.6975 ($6 processing fee applies); to order in person, visit any MFA ticket desk.

Discount Tickets

Groups of 10 or more are eligible for discounted tickets for most films. For more information, please call 617.369.3310.Full-time undergraduate students from participating institutions can purchase $5 film tickets in person for regularly priced screenings. (Available at MFA ticket desk only, not online.)