Arts/Entertainment

They originated in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Algeria and Tunisia. They have garnered honors in festivals around the world. And they won’t be popping up on the marquee at your local multiplex anytime soon. The 2010 Arab Film Festival at the Arab American National Museum, Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 5, presents a … Continued

Ibrahim El Batout’s “Hawi” has taken the prize for Best Arab Film at the second Doha Tribeca Film Festival. Doha, which has been named the Arab Capital of Culture for 2010 by UNESCO, launched the film festival last year in conjunction with New York’s Tribeca Film Festival. It aims to showcase international films with a … Continued

Dar al-Assad for Culture and Arts recently held two concerts dedicated to Wadi al-Safi featuring a choir of 60 singers, 15 musicians and a dance troupe, celebrating al-Safi’s history and accomplishments across 70 years of music. In an interview, al-Safi said that he loves Syria and its people just like he loves Lebanon because he’s … Continued

Egyptian fans of the Lebanese music star Fairouz might be wondering why her latest album, Eih, Fi Amal (Yes, There is still hope), is not yet widely available in Egypt. The album, released around the Arab world in the first weekend of October, was still missing from the shelves of the Egyptian music stores until … Continued

Some in the Middle East are numb to the compressive feeling of a mortar round as it sucks oxygen from the air before penetrating the side of a hill. To help viewers further understand the issues confronting the Middle East, Henry Ford Community College’s (HFCC) film festival Middle Eastern Visions II Nov. 1-9 offers in-depth … Continued

Budrus is a tiny village where something potentially very big happened, the setting for a hopeful story in an area of the world that has produced hardly any hope at all in recent years. As introduced in the surprisingly heartening documentary of the same name, Budrus is a small agricultural settlement in the West Bank, … Continued

Written by Sharif Abu-Hamdeh and directed by Campo alumnus Omar Metwally, “Habibi” can be as hard to pin down as it is riveting. The second offering in Campo and Intersection’s trilogy by first-time playwrights – after Chinaka Hodge’s remarkable “Mirrors in Every Corner” in March – the play that opened Monday is a noteworthy debut. … Continued

London’s ‘Jazza Music Festival’ kicked off Tuesday with a number of artists performing free of charge to help raise aid for the occupied Palestinian territories and highlight their plight. The event offered a mix of music genres that crossed both cultural as well as generational divides, where a diverse audience enjoyed tunes from classic Arabic … Continued

Salam Stores in partnership with Doha Enterprises, has taken up a sponsorship opportunity to bring Miss USA 2010, Rima Fakih (pictured), on her first official visit to the Middle East at the second annual Made in the USA – Qatar 2010 exhibition. Fakih will spend three days in Qatar, during which she will participate at … Continued

Sharrafouni is the new recording by U.S.-based Syrian singer. This new effort aims to reach a wider audience. Although the traditional Syrian roots are still there, Zein Al-Jundi has jumped into the area of Arabic pop. Thankfully, she has stayed away from the cheesy keyboard sounds used by other artists in the genre. Instead, she … Continued

The Arab American News Wire (AANW) will feature news stories, feature stories and press releases from Arab American news sources. . Also, all press releases related to the American Arab and Muslim American community will be accepted. The Arab American News Wire will not publish opinion commentary or columns on the site and they reserve … Continued