Alia Yunis

October 17, 2009

The Middle East Film Festival: And the Winners Are…

The closing night of the Middle East Film festival was the hot ticket of the week, for both goats and people. The festival did a good job of building the hype all week, with rumors running all week that George Clooney would come for the evening, which included the first screening outside of North America Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Film, Middle East

Film, Middle East Film Festival
October 16, 2009

THE MIDDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL AND EGYPTIAN SCANDAL

Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story caused quite a scandal in Egypt when it was released this summer, and given that it stars Egypt’s most popular actress, Mona Zaki, it’s no surprise that its first Arab screening outside of Egypt was packed. Egypt was apparently scandalized by the overt sexuality and consequent violence on screen. Of Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Film, Middle East
October 15, 2009

MIDDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL AND WOMEN GONE MAD

I’m reluctant to refer to Raja Amari’s film, “Buried Secrets,” as Tunisian film after the verbal brow beating she took from several Tunisians in the audience. The film is about three woman living secretly in an old, abandoned family home, hiding from the world—and particularly the men in it–for years. Their isolation is disturbed by Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Film, Middle East

Film, Middle East Film Festival
October 14, 2009

VARIETY’S TOP DIRECTOR IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Yesterday, Variety named Palestinian Elia Suleiman this year’s top filmmaker in the Middle East, which coincided with the screening last night in Abu Dhabi of his award-winning film The Time That Remains, his eccentric look at his late father’s life after Palestine was turned into Israel and continuing on with his own life today. Suleiman Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Film, Middle East

Film, Middle East Film Festival
October 13, 2009

The Middle East Film Festival and Egypt’s Heliopolis

Independent film is hard to come by in Egypt, and so I really wanted to love Heliopolis, by first time director Ahmed Abdulla and starring Egyptian heartthrob Khaled Abol Naga. And I was all pumped up, as I ended up sitting in front of Abbas Kirostami and Joan Chen, who are the festival’s jury. The Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Film, Middle East
October 12, 2009

MIDDLE FILM FESTIVAL: Iraqi and Syrian Films

After seeing an opening night film in which half the crowd walked out and in a year where my limited opportunities to see films has left me until last night calling The Hangover my favorite film of the year, I’m delighted to now call Son of Babylon my favorite film of the festival and the Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Film, Middle East

Film, Middle East Film Festival
October 11, 2009

THE MIDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL: LEBANON AND SOME SHORTS

When I was a child, I remember my grandmother complaining to my mother about the war having ruined her fashion sense. My mother’s response was “Which war?” At that point both had lived through so many wars, as had the other people of the Arab countries of the Mediterrean, from North Africa and Egypt to Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Film, Middle East
October 9, 2009

LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET: THE MIDDLE EAST FILM FESTIVAL GALA

In the end, rumors were false and Omar Sharif did not show up for the screening of Al Mosafar (The Traveler), the opening night movie of the Middle East Film Festival in which he stars. But most of the other actors in the film did, as well as several other stars from around the world. Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Film, Middle East, Travel
October 1, 2009

Fatima’s Fig Tree

One of the last things I did before leaving Jordan this week was to go into the backyard of my family’s home to see if another fig was ready for the picking. It’s also the first thing I’d done when I arrived there, upon my mother’s insistence. We’re a family that gets pretty excited about Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Food, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East

fig trees, figs, Jordan, The Night Counter
September 25, 2009

Jordan’s National Dish: Mansaf

It’s Friday in Jordan. Family get together day. Mansaf day. The first time I went to Jordan, my uncle took me to Jabri. “This is the only decent restaurant in town,” he said. “Order the mansaf.” I did and found myself faced with an almost intimidating amount of rice generously topped with lamb shanks simmered Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Food, Jordan, Middle East, recipes

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.