The Gene Siskel Film Center presents:
New Stories and Ancient Dreams: The Way to Syrian Cinema

June 2-28, 2006

At Our Listeners' Request (Ma Yatlubuhu al-Musstami‘un), by Abdellatif Abdul-Hamid (Syria, 2003, 89 minutes, Color, 35mm)
Packed with Arabic hit tunes circa 1969, AT OUR LISTENERS’ REQUEST celebrates a time when radio was the center of a remote village’s social life, until news of Israeli bombs ushers in a new and darker era. Friday, June 16, 6:00 pm & Tuesday, June 20, 7:45 pm

The Night (al-Leyl), by Mohammad Malas (Syria, 1992, 116 min, Color, 35 mm)
A man looks back on his chaotic childhood in the Golan Heights in the critical period of the late 1930s and early 1940s with nostalgia and bitterness as THE NIGHT unreels a semi-autobiographical history through the eyes of a boy. Friday, June 23, 7:45 pm & Wednesday, June 28, 7:45 pm

Stars in Broad Daylight (Nujum al-Nahar), by Oussama Mohammad (Syria, 1988, 115 min, Color, 35 mm)
This dramatic tale of a family in crisis over two disputed weddings throws light on the near-forbidden subject of women in rebellion against patriarchal power and arranged marriage. Friday, June 9, 7:45 pm & Tuesday, June 13, 7:45 pm

Verbal Letters (RASA’EL EL SHAFAHIYYAH)
1991, Abdellatif Abdul-Hamid, Syria, 108 min., with Fayez Qazaq, Rana Jammul, 35mm.
A young man obsessed with his thick glasses and huge nose is shortsighted indeed when he wheedles his personable best friend into courting the woman of his dreams on his behalf. Friday, June 2, 6:00 pm & Tuesday, June 6, 8:00 pm
All films are in Arabic with English subtitles.

This program is part of “Lens of Syria: Thirty Years of Contemporary Cinema,”
a touring exhibition organized by the ArteEast. www.arteeast.org