Five short Arab films that were screened at the Oscars will be shown on 15 January at Zamalek Cinema. The films range in subject, yet themes of war are common among them. The same set was screened at Cairo's Zawya theater in October. The lineup of films inlcudes Ayny (My Second Eye) by Ahmad Saleh, Nocturne in Black by Jimmy Keyrouz, Ave Maria by Basil Khalil, The Rifle, The Jackal, The Wolf and the Boy by Oualis Mouaness, and Baheya & Mahmoud by Zaid Abu Hamdan. Ayny is set against the backdrop of war, where two young boys run away from home, leaving their mother, chasing their dream of pursuing music, according to the event's Facebook page. The film is a co-production of Palestine, Germany and Jordan, and was nominated for the Best Muhr Short Award at the Dubai Film Festival (DIFF). Similarly, the Lebanese film Nocturne in Black also takes place in a war-ravaged Arab neighborhood, following a young musician who struggles to rebuild his piano after Jihadists have destroyed it. In the short comedy Ave Maria, life in the secluded West Bank monastery is disturbed when an Israeli settler family has an accident right outside the convent. It is the morning of Sabbath, the day when Jews are not to use technology, and the nuns who are vowed to a life of silence face a dilemma to help them or not. The British/Palestinian film won the Best Muhr Short Award from DIFF. The second Lebanese film The Rifle, The Jackal, The Wolf And The Boy takes place in the country's mountains. The film follows two brothers who secretly use their father's rifle, unaware of the dire consequences. Baheya & Mahmoud focuses on an ageing married couple in their monotonous miserable lifestyle, until one day Bahiya is gone. The film is a co-production between the USA, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. It won best short film at the Arab Film Festival US and at the Busan International Short Film Festival. Programme: 15 January at 7pm Zamalek Cinema, 13 Shagaret El-Dor St., Zamalek, Cairo For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
