SFAI Hosts Global Lens Film Festival - "Thirst (Atash)" September 11, 2006

San Francisco Art Institute
Lecture Hall
800 Chestnut Street
415.771.7020
Free and Open to the Public

About the Film
In an isolated valley far from the conflict, a Palestinian family ekes out a precarious existence among abandoned buildings near Um El-Fahem. A tyrannical father (Hussein Yassin Mahajne) rules over his wife and three children while obsessing over building an illegal water pipeline that could be confiscated if found by a patrol. Marked by impressive and expressive widescreen imagery, this is a masterfully shot allegory of repression and control in a harsh landscape that examines the dynamic of power within a family stretched to the breaking point. An archetypal tale with extraordinary performances from non-professonals.

In Arabic with English subtitles.
Writer/Director: Tawfik Abu Wael. (Palestine 2004) 110 min.

San Francisco Art Institute is proud to present Global Lens 2006. Now in its fourth year, Global Lens offers international feature-length films organized by The Global Film Initiative, a non-profit organization founded to promote cross-cultural understanding through cinema. Recognizing that great storytelling can influence human affairs as well as foster trust and respect between disparate cultures, The Global Film Initiative reaches out to independent filmmakers around the world and debuts their films in the US.

San Francisco Art Institute, California Film Institute, Grand Lake Theater, and the Mexican Heritage Plaza are the exclusive Northern California partners for the Global Lens tour, which includes special outreach presentations for school groups as well as the following public screenings at SFAI. Visit the SFAI website for complete film notes.

September 6
Stolen Life (Sheng si jie)

September 11
Thirst (Atash)

September 13
Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (Cinema, aspirinas e urubus)

September 18
Global Shorts

September 20
Almost Brothers (Quase dois irmãos)

September 25
Max and Mona

September 27
In the Battlefields (Maarek hob)

October 2
Border Café (Café Transit)

October 4
The Night of Truth (La Nuit de la vérité)

Official Website: http://www.sfai.edu