PART OF MIZNA'S TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
Actress Hana Chamoun attending for post-screening Q&A
An inspiring and thoughtful narrative by veteran documentary filmmaker, Mai Masri. 3000 Nights tells the story of Layal (Maisa Abd Elhadi), a school teacher who is arrested shortly after helping a teenage boy accused of attacking an Israeli checkpoint. Recently married and pregnant, Layal and her new husband are preparing to emigrate to Canada when she is sentenced to eight years in prison. Betrayed by her husband, who leaves without her, she gives birth in prison and raises her child behind bars and alongside ongoing conflicts between Palestinian political prisoners, Israeli guards, and criminals. Layal’s participation in an uprising against the violent and unlivable conditions in the Israeli women’s prison changes the course of her life and gives her purpose and hope.
Director Biography
Mai Masri is a Palestinian filmmaker who studied film at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. She has directed and produced several award-winning films, including Beirut Diaries: Truth, Lies and Videos (2006), Frontiers of Dreams and Fears (2001), and Wild Flowers: Women of South Lebanon (1987). She founded Nour Productions in 1995 with her husband, filmmaker Jean Chamoun. Her films have received the Luchino Visconti Award (Italy, 2003), the Asia Pacific Screen Award (Australia, 2007), and the Mipdoc Trailblazer Award (Cannes, 2011).
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.