A 9/11 Gallery

May 3 (Sat) 5:30 pm—"Bliss" U.S. Premiere of Turkish Film on Honor Killing

Directed and produced by Abdullah Oguz of Turkey, and based on Zülfü Livaneli’s international bestseller, "Bliss"is the first film about the taboo subject of honor killing. Rape victim Meriyem, sentenced to death to save her family’s "honor," and her unlikely executor-turned-savior Cemal are joined by a disillusioned intellectual from Istanbul as they search for path between tradition and modernity.

"Why is it that honour killings have taken so long to inspire art? Despite all our protestations, these most heinous of murders - so euphemistically termed as to provoke opprobrium in itself - have curiously failed to goad artists into action. Scandalously, and for far too long, the plight of countless women who die at the hands of their own brothers, fathers, uncles, and sons - for infractions believed to have brought shame on their families - has gone unnoticed. In countries where the dishonorable act of killing in the name of honour is commonplace, the conspiracy of silence is almost deafening. That is a crime in itself." See Guardian film blog for complete critique.

Goethe Institute Los Angeles, 5750 Wilshire Blvd., Ste 100, L.A., CA 90036. Underground parking free after 6 pm .

May 5 (Mon), 8 pm —Film at Redcat Presents Mania Akbari's 10 + 4 (Dah be alaveh Chahar)

This is the West Coast premiere of Mania Akbari's 10 + 4, Dah be alaveh Chahar, (Iran, 2007, 77 min.).

After casting painter and video artist Mania Akbari as the central figure of his groundbreaking Ten (2002), and then witnessing her outstanding debut as a feature film director in 20 Fingers (2004), Abbas Kiarostami urged her to direct a sequel to the film. In Dah be alaveh Chahar (10 + 4), though, circumstances are different: Mania is fighting cancer. She has undergone surgery; she has lost her hair following chemotherapy and no longer wears the compulsory headscarf; and sometimes she is too weak to drive. So the camera follows her to record conversations with friends and family in different spaces, from the gondola she had famously used in her first feature to a hospital bed. Yet, while he body shows the effects of the disease, Akbari is as tough, charismatic, and argumentative as in her previous screen appearances - her luminous presence all the more alluring and precious as it becomes a sign of how fragile life itself is. Her cinematic language has been expanded and refined from the rigorous explorations of 20 Fingers, to take into account the unexpected aspects of facing simultaneously death and survival, social stigma and sympathy. Treading an elegant line between documentary and fiction, Akbari takes a daring look at complex social situations that arise in the face of mortality-and emerges with a new zest for life.

"10 + 4 walks the delicate line between art and life. Akbari's last film (the revelatory 20 Fingers) eviscerated male and female relationships, and this time she spares no one, not even herself… Often it is the smallest details that stick and tell the hardest truths: a man on motorcycle pulls (the newly bald) Mania over to the side of the road to demand to know whether she is male or female… As conversation unfolds in episodic and allusive fashion, the film becomes more than a conventional documentary; it trespasses into the realm of art. Filled with touches of grace and humanity, but never ever sentimental, it is an honest (sometimes brutally so) look at the moments of life that can occur very close to death.- Vancouver International Film Festival
The film makes use of simple cinematic techniques. Tight shots allow us to enter into the intimate world of the protagonist, and we were deeply moved by it. Throughout the film, the spectator stays with the progress of the disease and is made a sympathetic witness of it. 10 + 4 left us speechless."—Statement from the Festival des Trois Continents (Nantes) jury.

Monday, May 5 , 8 pm, Jack H. Skirball Series (curated by Steve Anker and Bérénice Reynaud). $9 [students $7], Redcat, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Ticket info.

May 12 (Mon.), 7 pm—Holy Land Activists Ahmad Hijazi and Noam Shuster from Neve Shalom-Wahat al-Salam Speak on Coexistence at BH Library Auditorium

In a village between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Jews and Palestinians live together in peace.For over 25 years, residents of the “Oasis of Peace,” who are all Israeli citizens, have lived and educated their children together as equals.
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The village is home to the region’s first ever bilingual, binational Primary School, an internationally acclaimed conflict management program at the School for Peace, and the Pluralistic Spiritual Center. Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam has been nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ahmad Hijazi first came to Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam in 1984 as a teenager to attend a School for Peace youth encounter workshop. In 1992, Ahmad moved in Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam and later
became a facilitator at the internationally recognized School for Peace, leading conflict management programs. He served as Mayor from 1995 to 1997. Ahmad is currently the Director of Public Relations in the community and a facilitator at the School for Peace.

Noam Shuster grew up in Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam and studied at its bilingual and bicultural Primary School. In 2006, Noam was awarded an A. Slifka Coexistence Scholarship at Brandeis University, MA, where she is actively working to educate people she meets about the situation in the
region. In 2007, she was part of a delegation from the Carter Center focusing on the Palestinian experience in the territories.

This program is cosponsored by Levantine Cultural Center, American Friends Service Committee and its Middle East Peace Education Program, the Workmen's Circle – Arbeter Ring and LA Jews for Peace.

May 12, 7 pm, Beverly Hills Library Auditorium, 440 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills 90211. Free to the public, donations welcome. Parking free after 5 pm. RSVPs encouraged. Contact American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, 818.325.8884 or email for more info. Visit the web site.

Bring your ideas, enthusiasm and support to the Center by participating in our Programming Committee, which cooperates with our Board of Directors in creating new arts programs in the months ahead. Visit our volunteer opportunities page. To get on the reservation list for the next meeting, email us now!

Levantine Center's Board of Directors is continually seeking to work with new volunteers who may be invited to join the board. We welcomes inquiries—we are actively searching for more people with our passion and conviction! Our core group of volunteers consists of diverse members of the community who are of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean heritage or who have a strong professional or artistic interest in furthering our mission. Our volunteers work on literary, film, fine art, music and educational programming.

Our Advisory Board is also in formation. Advisory board members are known professionally in their own communities and offer valuable counsel and services to the organization; they are eligible to attend the organization's annual retreat and receive other benefits.

Please contact us at 310.657.5511.

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