Middle East

January 27, 2024

A Land and a Camera

The world is made of stories, and most journalists will discover in their career more stories than they can ever tell, even if they never leave where they were born. We are tragically seeing that today with the young journalists in Gaza. Unlike them, I have had the opportunity to travel much further in pursuit Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Film, Food, Islam/Muslim, Middle East, Saudi Arabia

aramco-world, Aseer, bo-kaap, cape-town, cheese, dugongs, filmmaking, honduras, Jordan, journalism, madaba, majlis-painters, mosques, Tromsø, Writer, Writing
August 14, 2021

Sex/ish in the City

I heard Sex/Life is coming back for a second season. I got to say some things. Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Film, Jordan, Middle East, TV

Middle East, Sex and the City, Sex/Life
July 17, 2021

My Heart Groans Like a Mack Truck on a Steep Slope

My Heart Groans Like a Mack Truck on a Steep Slope Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, bedouins, Islam/Muslim, Middle East, poetry, Saudi Arabia

bedouins, Nabati poems, Najd, poetry
April 22, 2019

Earth Day & Best of the Fest Connection

The Golden Harvest will have an encore screening at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival as part of the Best of the Fest screenings–Super! Wednesday, April 24 at 4:50 pm at St. Anthony Main: https://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=436771~36893ed1-b0b9-423c-bbab-90f22d0aeafe&epguid=78d5df86-076b-41eb-9b27-8d9e012642d6& I lived in a house only once in my life. For three years. It was in Minnesota in Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arts and Culture, Film, Food, Greece, Heritage, Italy, Jordan, Middle East, Minnesota, Olive Oil, olive trees, Spain, The Golden Harvest, Uncategorized

Arab female filmmakers, artists, Authors, Film, Food, Greece, Italy, Olive oil, Women, Writing
March 18, 2019

Full House for The Golden Harvest Debut at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival

(March 14, 2019) The Golden Harvest (2019, 85 min) made its debut on March 4, 2019 at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival to a full house. The screening was followed by a lively Q & A that continued onto the pier along the fabulous arthouse area of the city where the majority of the festival Continue reading

Arab Americans, Film, Food, Greece, Italy, Middle East, Olive Oil, olive trees, Palestine, Spain, The Golden Harvest, Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Alia Yunis, Documentary, Film, film festival, Food, Greece, Italy, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Diet, Palestine, Spain, Thessaloniki Internatnional Film Festival, Travel
February 28, 2019

The Schedule for Thessaloniki International Film Festival

We are delighted that The Golden Harvest will make its international debut at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival . Please join us if you can! For more information, visit: https://www.filmfestival.gr/en/movie/movie/11920 TONIA MARKETAKI 04 March 2019 15:30 JOHN CASSAVETES 05 March 2019 12:45 Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arts and Culture, Author, Film, Food, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, Olive Oil, olive trees, Palestine, Spain, The Golden Harvest, Writing

Culture, Film, film festival, Food, Olive oil, Olive Tree, Oman, Television, Thessaloniki Internatnional Film Festival, Writing
February 25, 2019

The Golden Harvest to Premiere at Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Every filmmaker making a film on her own dreams of it opening at a Top 10 ranked festival. We are delighted thus that The Golden Harvest will make its debut on March 4 at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece. Not only is it a great festival–it’s in the country with the highest per Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Film, Food, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, Minnesota, Olive Oil, olive trees, Palestine, Spain, Syria, Uncategorized

Culture, Director, Film, film festival, Food, Producer, Television, Thessaloniki Internatnional Film Festival
April 30, 2014

Nut Cases in Jordan

In the Red Sea port of Aqaba, you can relive the romance of Lawrence of Arabia’s adventures on and off film. You’ll discover the CIA-esque intrigue of being able to see Israel/Palestine, Egypt and Saudi Arabia from the same spot. Indeed, it is a grand opportunity to take in a vista of all of the Continue reading

Food, Jordan, Middle East, recipes

Al Shaab, Jordan, Middle East nut shops, Nuts, pistachios
March 25, 2014

The Sweet Spot in Arabia

I have never heard an Arab woman call her sweetheart the Arabic word for honey—or vice versus–even though Arabic is a language with scores of other terms of endearment. I have never read any Arabic children’s stories about goofy bears getting stuck in honey pots, and I’ve never seen honey come in cutely shaped squeezable Continue reading

Arabs, Food, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Travel

Arabs, honey, Middle East cuisne, Saudi Arabia
December 21, 2013

How Dubai Stollen Christmas

Bloodshed, flooding, people fleeing persecution, the fodder of biblical stories from the Holy Land. Only sadly they’re not ancient stories trotted out for the Christmas season. They are present day Christmastime in the birthplace of Christmas. But Noel in its current incarnation is supposed to be about fun. And really, why shouldn’t it be? A Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Dubai, Egypt, Food, Lebanon, Middle East, Palestine, Syria

Christmas in the Middle East, Christmas Stollen, Dubai

About Alia

Alia Yunis is a writer, journalist and filmmaker. She is currently producing and directing “The Golden Harvest,” a feature length documentary about how olive oil has shaped the Mediterranean culture, cuisine and history for 6,000 years, through war and peace. Her debut novel, The Night Counter (Random House) has been critically acclaimed by the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and several other publications. It was also chosen as a top summer read by the Chicago Tribune and Boston Phoenix. The Boston Globe has called it “wonderfully imaginative…poignant, hilarious.” Alia was born in Chicago and grew up in the U.S., Greece, and the Middle East. She has worked as a filmmaker and journalist in several cities, especially Los Angeles. Her fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including The Robert Olen Butler Best Short Stories collection, and her non-fiction work includes articles for The Los Angeles Times, Saveur, SportsTravel Magazine, and Aramco World. She currently teaches film at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.