With the fall season upon us, the Center for Arab American Philanthropy (CAAP) would like to take a moment to highlight some wonderful upcoming events sponsored by our grantees that aim to celebrate the Arab culture through food, music, cultural dance, arts and other forms of entertainment.

Boston Palestine Film Festival (BPFF): A program of the Middle East Charitable and Cultural Society Inc. (MECCS), the BPFF brings Palestine-related stories, cinema and culture to New England. The festival features numerous thought-provoking films of various types, including documentaries, full-length features, rare early works, video art pieces and new films by emerging artists and youth. BPFF also offers additional cultural programming in the form of concerts by Palestinian musicians and art exhibits by or about Palestinians. The aim of the BPFF is to offer a glimpse into Palestinian history and culture with these various stories depicting honest, self-described and independent views of the geographically dispersed society.

Some notable features of previous festivals include Mahdi Fleifel’s award-winning film A World Not Ours, which is about life of Palestinian refugees in camps in Lebanon, a concert by the Ali Amr Quartet at the Museum of Fine Arts and a concert by students from the Berklee College of Music celebrating the legacy of Edward Said. This year’s festival begins Oct. 17 and runs until the 26th. For more information regarding the BPFF, click here.

Atlanta Palestine Film Festival (APFF): The APFF features a selection of critically-acclaimed films that help the audience to explore the multiple aspects of Palestinian life, culture, love, struggle and hope. Like the BPFF, the APFF includes films of various genres, like documentaries and dramas. The APFF is strictly a film festival, however, as no concerts or musical performances supplement the films as with the BPFF. Each film at the APFF will be followed by a Q & A session, allowing for a deeper discussion of the film and any curiosities it may have peaked.


A scene from the academy award-nominated film, Omar
Photo Credit: Omar

The APFF is co-sponsored by Alif Institute, a grantee of ours this year. Alif Institute is an organization that fosters an understanding and appreciation of Arab culture through arts and education. They host a multitude of wonderful events throughout the year that celebrate Arab culture. For more information about the APFF or other events hosted or sponsored by Alif Institute, visit their website!

Arabfest: The Arabfest, sponsored by our friends at the Arab American National Museum (AANM), is a cultural festival that celebrates the Arab culture, bringing in people from different walks of life to embrace and enjoy what Arab culture has to offer. The festival presents the Arab culture by means of food, music, cultural dance and other forms of entertainment. Arabfest’s objective is simple: displaying the Arab culture and sharing the heritage in hopes of fostering change and positive interaction between people in regards to the Arab people and their culture.

Arabfest is Sept. 27 in the Washington D.C. area. If you’d like more information about the festival give the main website a visit! Also, if you are interested in other events that the AANM is sponsoring, stop by their event page. The AANM has plenty of great events coming this fall, with their Global Fridays Series kicking off the season Sept. 12.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *