PART OF MIZNA'S TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
2016 MSPIFF Best of Fest Selection
Family-friendly: 10+
Despite a tangle of roadblocks and checkpoints, a thriving street car racing scene has emerged in the West Bank. Held at improvised tracks – a vegetable market, an old helicopter pad, a security academy – the races offer a release from the pressures and uncertainties of life under military occupation. The fanfare and rivalry between cities brings spectators out in droves, lining rooftops and leaning over barricades to snap photos of their favorite drivers and to catch final times on the scoreboard. A riveting documentary, Speed Sisters follows the first all-women racing team in the Middle East. Grabbing headlines and turning heads, the film weaves together their lives on and off the track.
Director Biography
Amber Fares is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and photographer. Her feature-length directorial debut Speed Sisters, premiered at Hot Docs in 2015, where it was one of the top 20 in the Audience Choice Awards. It won the Audience Award at the Irish Film Institute Festival and is currently playing in film festivals around the world. Fares’ political approach to storytelling is driven by the belief that personal stories can help viewers connect to larger social issues. She has worked with organizations like UNRWA, Defence for Children International, and Amnesty International and is the co-founder of SocDoc Studios, which produces story-driven films that explore political topics.
PRESENTED WITH SUPPORT BY
TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
Mizna presents the eleventh Twin Cities Arab Film Festival in partnership with the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul. The Arab Film Fest showcases modern Arab cinema, featuring debut screenings of independent narrative, documentary, and experimental features and shorts.