Once

Once is full of beauty, heart, and amazing music. It's a Cinderella story for indie filmmakers everywhere (it won an Oscar). So please tell me you've seen it! If not, add it to the top of your Netflix queue, rent it a video store or buy the DVD. However you chose to view it watch it ASAP. That's how essential it is.

If you're already a fan, share some of your favorite scenes and songs. What makes this movie special to you?

Read more »

Brick Lane

Brick Lane has some gorgeous cinematography. Some of the shots were really stunning and when paired with complex characters, it's a delightful thing to watch. The story centers around the life of a Bangladeshi woman unwillingly transplanted to London. It's somber, poetic and the vibrant visuals really help establish the mood.


Watch it in HD if you can.


Official Site: www.bricklanemovie.co.uk

Read more »

Detroit Unleaded

I met Rola Nashef at a filmmaking event and she's committed to getting more Arab American stories told. For a limited time you watch her short film Detroit Unleaded online.

It's a comedic drama about an Arab-owned gas station in a predominantly African American neighborhood on Detroit’s East Side; a place where widely diverse customers and gas station workers come in and out of each others lives, exploring themes of race, economics, friendship and love, through the personal identities and encounters that shape the Arab American and immigrant experience.

A feature length film based off the short is in the works.

Official Site: www.detroitunleaded.com

Read more »

Goodbye Solo

Ramin Bahrani knows how to capture beauty of a struggle. Just check out his film Man Push Cart. He tells stories that are eerily haunting in an all too real gritty way.

Goodbye Solo is Bahrani's latest offering and it looks like it will be another one of his bittersweet masterpieces.

On the lonely roads of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, two men forge an improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever. Solo is a Senegalese cab driver working to provide a better life for his young family. William is a tough Southern good ol‘ boy with a lifetime of regrets. One man‘s American dream is just beginning, while the other‘s is quickly winding down.

You can check Goodbye Solo at the SXSW fest or later on when it opens in NYC and Chicago on March 27th.


Official Site: www.goodbyesolomovie.com

[Hat tip Front of the Row]

Read more »

Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly

This film explores the lives of ethnic minorities in Indonesia. I can only speak of the minority experience in America so it'll be interesting to see how things compare. Anyone happen to catch this one?

"In The Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly you will find stories about disoriented identity, not knowing who you are, anxiety, uncertainty, the experience of being lost, told with a sense of humor. A father who is desperate to win a green card lottery, so the family can move to America. An ex-national badminton champion, whose husband leaves her for a Javanese wife. A Menado boy who constantly gets beaten up because everybody thinks that he is Chinese. A young girl who believes that Chinese firecrackers expel ghosts. Set within the contemporary social and racial tension of urban Indonesia, the story follows eight characters in their absurd journey to fit in within society in the hope to live better lives."

Official Website: www.babibutafilm.com
www.myspace.com/blindpigfilm

Read more »

13 Months of Sunshine

If you're planning to attend the Pan African Film & Arts Festival be sure to check out this film.

"The American dream and the immigrant experience collide in this heartwarming comedy focusing on the romance between two Ethiopian immigrants."

Writer/Director: Yehdego Abeselom
Official Website: www.13monthsofsunshine.com

Read more »

Amreeka

Amreeka has been getting some good buzz at Sundance. It definitely sounds like my kind of film.

Amreeka is a warm and lighthearted film about one Palestinian family’s tumultuous journey into Diaspora amidst the cultural fallout of America’s war in Iraq. Muna Farah, a Palestinian single mom, struggles to maintain her optimistic spirit in the daily grind of intimidating West Bank checkpoints, the constant nagging of a controlling mother, and the haunting shadows of a failed marriage. Everything changes one day when she receives a letter informing her that her family has been granted a U.S. green card.

There's a great interview with the director, Cherien Dabis, over at the Women and Hollywood blog where she talks about the need for Arab-American films and how President Obama's presence in the top seat is a positive step in cultivating that change.

Read more »

Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)

This Sundance film is a documentary about how Laos immigrants found their way to gang territory USA. It follows the story of Thavisouk Phrasavath and how his family relocated to America during the Vietnam War.



Directors: Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath

Read more »

Man Push Cart

Warning: This movie will leave you heavy-hearted (but in a Sundance film festival kind of way). Man Push Cart is a tragic yet poignant story of a Pakistani immigrant trying to forge a life for himself in New York City. In his home country he used to be a rock star but now he must face the daily reality of being a "faceless" street vendor. This film has an artistic tone that sucks you into his world and urges you to feel his monunmetal struggles and his little joys. It paints a picture of life in New York through a much-needed lens.



Director/Writer: Ramin Bahrani
Starring: Ahmad Razvi
Soundtrack: Peyman Yazdanian

Read more »