Arts/Entertainment

In a landscape cluttered with entertainment options, a cultural event such as the Arab Film Festival plays an important role in helping migrant communities stay close to their roots. As well showcasing the best of film from across the Arabic-speaking region, the festival – inaugurated in 2001 – also provides an outlet for locally-made product. … Continued

Some of the Arab world’s leading fashion designers have relocated to Dubai, drawn by a favourable investment climate and the lure of the Gulf market. Dubai’s numerous exotic hotels provide a plush backdrop for their latest collections, which tend to combine classical, conservative designs with a splash of daring colour. Lebanon’s Aqal Faqih and Iraq’s … Continued

“New Muslim Cool” is a film that follows the life of Brooklyn native Hamza Pérez, a hip hop artist and Islamic convert who is setting up a new community in the North End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The film will kick off the 22nd season of the PBS series P.OV. Pérez, a Puerto Rican-American, was born … Continued

Gregory Jbara (Billy Elliot) Jbara was born in Westland, Michigan, the son of an advertising office manager[1] and an insurance claims adjuster. He is of Lebanese and Irish descent. After graduating from Wayne Memorial High School in Wayne, Michigan, Jbara attended the University of Michigan. He majored in Communication Studies and took classes in Theatre … Continued

The life of an Arab citizen is anything but funny. Just ask my relatives who live in several Israeli cities. Non-Jews in a Jewish world caught on the edge of the wall that separates Palestinians from Israelis. Yet, that’s exactly the premise of a sitcom that was a hit last year and is in its … Continued

It’s Shakespeare, but with a twist. The dialogue is in Arabic, women wear veils and a despot is persuaded to seize power on a TV chat show as world leaders call in encouraging words. Kuwait-based director Sulayman Al-Bassam’s “Richard III: An Arab Tragedy,” which is part of the Muslim Voices Festival at the Brooklyn Academy … Continued

Known for hit songs such as “Beautiful” and “Right Now (Na Na Na)” Akon is no stranger to success. And now, he is also taking the Arabic music market by storm in his collaboration with Lebanese singer, Melissa. This marks Akon’s first time to sing with an Arabic singer. The African star Akon finished shooting … Continued

Nearly 60 million Americans now regularly get information from ethnically oriented TV, radio, newspapers, and Web sites, many of which are published or broadcast in languages other than English — and that number is on the rise. As mainstream newspapers and cable news channels in the United States are losing more money, readers, and viewers … Continued