Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival in July

Caroline_afifi

New member
Hi Deelybopper,

Thanks so much for your support at the seminar and I am glad you got alot out of it.
The reason why it was not a surprise is from experience and talking to Shira and others. We have tried this sort of thing before at the festival and it was the same. Also I have attended and presented seminar in other festivals and it has been the same in the past. However, I did present a seminar at Majma and it was full so that was good.

Shira was telling me about the first conference in canada and how it has taken time to build interest etc. it is now a very successful event.

I agree, with all your points and it does come down to priority.
I highlighted Shira in particular as she is not resident in the UK and it was the first opportunity to see this presentation (hopefully not the last!) and in the Northwest of England.

As for money, people pay huge amounts of money to attend festivals all over the country so it is nothing new. Also the festival was subsidised by funding as the real expense for what was on offer ran into multiple thousands and one year of work.
 

karena

New member
Oh no now I feel really sad.:( I really wanted to go to that conference - I had seen the one in Canada and thought it looked great so really wanted to go. It was so up my street, and yes £30 really isn't much for a conference. £100 is cheap in my world, but that is where institutions pay so is a bit of a different thing maybe, anyway I digress. But I had promised someone who's pretty dependent on me that I would do something, and really didn't want to disappoint him. But now I am gutted. :(

Oh, I'm sorry Caroline. I wish I had juggled now! Next time, now I realise that these things are often poorly attended, I will juggle the other way. I hadn't realised that these type of things were not being attended, as all the workshops etc are always bursting at the seams. :(:(:(

Re getting it more attended, is there any mileage to linking to a university, and then getting it in that circuit? Then you might get the people whose institutions pay to make it more viable financially. There is usually a higher institution rate etc. Maybe you've already thought of that.
 

fatinah

New member
I was not complaining about the cost....infact I happen to think everything was very very reasonable price wise. I was just saying I think its a tad unfair to think people don't make the effort.
I hope to make next years as I can do the confrence maybe instead of the show and change.
I wasnt knocking the festival or the price and I think the festival is amazing for this city, a place Im very proud to call my home!...now hehehe 8 years here must make me a honorary scouser surely...im married to one...that must count :p
 

lizaj

New member
Fatinah
I think caroline means that there are dancers in our area who have been on the scene for years and didn't bother to support either the symposium or , workshops or shows as well. I know for a fact some didn't tell their students about the whole 3 weeks of great events.
And you have done more as a newbie of the scene to support the event than some!
 

fatinah

New member
It's not at all obvious to me that people would rather go to the performances -.

Well Im going on the fact that I asked 6 local bellydancers if they went to the shows or confrences and they all said shows...me being 7 now. Just going on what I got told and stuff.

This following is NOT MY opinion but a few girls I know said it was because they dont really like learning about the dance they just love performing.
I dont really agree as I love learning about culture but I guess I understand a little what they are saying. I LOVE reading but once I studied literature in depth it kinda ruined getting cosy with a book for me.
However, studying theology and islam and judaism was just my idea of heaven.

Everyones different....thank God :)
 

Eshta

New member
A massive congratulations to Caroline & everyone who put in time & effort to what sounds like a great success but also an educational & enlightening event that does our artform the credit it deserves!

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

Assuming my finances have recovered sufficiently from my house move, count me in for next year! I'll be making a weekend of it (anyone know any good bellydancer-friendly B&Bs?!) Nafiseh, I know you're lurking, you up for it darling?!

I empathise with the frustration that a lot of people just want 'belly dance light' rather than to treat it as a proper discipline, but I truly believe that the existence of events like this can only serve to improve the quality of the scene. There are those that don't want to know, but there are lots who want to know but find it really difficult how to go about finding out, if that makes sense. It will take time but I am optimistic. I wonder if it would have even been possible to pull off an event of this kind at all a few years ago...
 

karena

New member
now hehehe 8 years here must make me a honorary scouser surely...im married to one...that must count :p
I've been told 25 for Yorkshire, but then that is probably as we have a bigger queue this side of the Pennines! :lol:;):lol:
 

lizaj

New member
Well we've taken Ringo's Scouse "nationality" offa him and chopped the head off his topiary statue so I reckon we can give the keys of the city to others but it takes a good while to master the accent.
 

Caroline_afifi

New member
I went to see the film Ein Shams last night then went for dinner with Jack Shaheen.

It was a really nice film. It was a little all over the place at the start but it settled in really well. There was a street wedding scene and it could have actually been a real one.
The dancer I am sure was a real club dancer as she didnt dance (if you know what i mean). The men were building cone like splifs by the dozen and drinking beer.

It was the first time I had seen some of the issues addressed in Egyptian cinema like chilhood cancer and the issue of poisonous pesticides that are currently being sprayed on crops in Egypt (which are cheap and happen to be illeagal in most other countries).

The street scenes were very quiet and Ein Shams looked very pretty in some scenes... I am waiting for the real Egyptian film to come out with the real warts and all but Ein Shams was certainly a step in the right direction and has won many awards in European film festivals.

Heya Fawda (Chaos) is on next Sunday at Fact, Liverpool.
Heya Fawda is about a corrupt Police officer in Cairo and stars my husbands very good pal Khaled Saleh. Another film not to be missed.
This film will probably be Yussef Shaheens last and has cost the festival an absolute fortune!!
 

fatinah

New member
I am getting quite good at my scally scouse accent...I havent quite mastered the normal scouse accent yet though!
I can do a good "Im from crosby and think Im posh but really dead scouse" accent :p
I must admit it seems bad that people who have been on the scene for years cant be bothered to attend stuff in their own back yard. Nevermind x
 

lizaj

New member
I went to see the film Ein Shams last night then went for dinner with Jack Shaheen.

It was a really nice film. It was a little all over the place at the start but it settled in really well. There was a street wedding scene and it could have actually been a real one.
The dancer I am sure was a real club dancer as she didnt dance (if you know what i mean). The men were building cone like splifs by the dozen and drinking beer.

It was the first time I had seen some of the issues addressed in Egyptian cinema like chilhood cancer and the issue of poisonous pesticides that are currently being sprayed on crops in Egypt (which are cheap and happen to be illeagal in most other countries).

The street scenes were very quiet and Ein Shams looked very pretty in some scenes... I am waiting for the real Egyptian film to come out with the real warts and all but Ein Shams was certainly a step in the right direction and has won many awards in European film festivals.

Heya Fawda (Chaos) is on next Sunday at Fact, Liverpool.
Heya Fawda is about a corrupt Police officer in Cairo and stars my husbands very good pal Khaled Saleh. Another film not to be missed.
This film will probably be Yussef Shaheens last and has cost the festival an absolute fortune!!

Sounded brilliant . The Algerian(?)Paloma film if it is the one I saw on Channel 4 I, I highly recommend it's wondeful but quite a jolt in parts. The acting and settings are wonderful.
I aim to come in with my fellow turq. gal to see the exhibitions tomorrow at the Library and Arts Centre. What I was sorry to miss was the cookery!
 

deelybopper

New member
The reason why it was not a surprise is from experience and talking to Shira and others. We have tried this sort of thing before at the festival and it was the same. Also I have attended and presented seminar in other festivals and it has been the same in the past. However, I did present a seminar at Majma and it was full so that was good.

Shira was telling me about the first conference in canada and how it has taken time to build interest etc. it is now a very successful event.

Hi Caroline - Thanks for explaining. I didn't realise there'd been an attempt to do this at the festival before...(scratches head)...I mustn't have been paying attention! It's interesting that there's been low turnout at other things, and Shira's info about the Canadian conference.
 

Caroline_afifi

New member
Hi Caroline - Thanks for explaining. I didn't realise there'd been an attempt to do this at the festival before...(scratches head)...I mustn't have been paying attention! It's interesting that there's been low turnout at other things, and Shira's info about the Canadian conference.

It was five years ago but hey ho... we thought perhaps the scene had developed a little more since then... perhaps so much so that less people go to everything! everyone is complaining about the lack of attendance in for just about everything. As far as the festival goes, all the events including the films have been very well attended. I just have not seen many faces from the BD community. Fortunately the festival does not depend on them in the slightest but many other people in belly dance business do.
 

Caroline_afifi

New member
Last Sunday was the final event for the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival.
It was the Screening of the film Heya Fawda (Is it Chaos?).

When I posted before the screening I mentioned that it was the latest and possibly the last film by the brilliant director Yussef Shaheen.

Yussef Shaheen died the day before the film was screened.
There was a very moving presentation before the film, which highlighted his work in cinema over the years. He will be a graet loss to Egyptian cinema, the Arab world and beyond.

I really enjoyed the movie. Although the topic was of a very serious nature, the film itself was very funny in places. Khaled Saleh was excellent as the
corrupt police officer Hatem and Mena Shalaby played an excellent part too. There was also an fabulous and hilarious scene in the police station cells were the women danced for money from the male prisoners.
I thoroughly recommend subtitled egyptain films as a peek into society of the tourist track. Having said this, you have to bare in mind the artisic license and movies are not always exact like with any movie.

The Arabic Arts Festival is over for this year but I will keep you posted of developments for 2009. It is not always possible to know what we have in adavnce as we have to wait to see how much money we get from the Arts Council of England as well as other funding partners like Bafta and the BBC.

Thanks to everyone who supported the festival and it was great to see some familiar faces at the Midnight Club last Friday!
 

Eshta

New member
Mabrouk Caroline!

I love Egyptian movies, but can you tell me the best way to get my hands on subtitled ones? I'll be back in Cairo in November, or if you know anyone over here who doesn't charge the earth...!
 

Caroline_afifi

New member
Hi Eshta,

In Cairo you would just have to ask around but finding ones with subtitles is rare.
The films we had for the festival were through the Zenith foundation based in the UK, but there are other distributors. Shira (from the US) uses one in the UK but I forgot the name so will have to check with her again.
I am not sure if it is just old movies or new ones too. There are also various websites now who make a small charge for downloading these films with subtitles.

I shall open a 'good movie' thread to talk about good films and where to get them etc. but right now I am off to work!
 
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