Salata Baladi

Egypt was not always hostage to the myth of it being a homogenous society. Rather, Egypt was once a multi-ethnic and religiously heterogeneous society. Salata Baladi is the personal history of the filmmaker's grandmother, Mary, as told to her grandson, Nabeel. Like many Egyptians, born at the end of a century filled with multiple waves of immigration, religious conversions, and mixed marriages, Nabeel is a mix of Egyptian, Italian, Palestinian, and Lebanese, with some Russian, Caucasian, Turk, and Spanish all from his Muslim, Christian and Jewish ancestors. As Mary weaves her way through the family tales, she bumps into her own fears and the continued silence shrouding the Israeli branch of her family. In an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people dispossessed by the creation of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948, Mary has been boycotting her Egyptian Jewish family in Israel for 55 long years. Inspired by the telling of her own stories and the fresh perspectives her ten-year-old grandson brings to them, she and her loving, eclectic circle of friends and family engage in the breaking one of the most vicious taboos in modern Egypt.

Director: Nadia Kamel

Egypt, 2007, 105 minutes

This screening is part of the Arab Film Festival. For details on the festival, please visit www.aff.org

Cost : $10.00 general admission, $8.00 students/seniors

Sponsor(s): Arab Film Festival