Whatever Works
Attempting to impress his ideologies on religion, relationships, and the randomness (and worthlessness) of existence, lifelong New York resident Boris Yellnikoff rants to anyone who will listen, including the audience. But when he begrudgingly allows naive Mississippi runaway Melodie St. Ann Celestine to live in his apartment, his reclusive rages give way to an unlikely friendship and Boris begins to mold the impressionable young girl’s worldly views to match his own. When it comes to love, “whatever works” is his motto, but his already perplexed life complicates itself further when Melodie’s parents eventually track her down.

Language: English

Who: ALIF students
When: Friday May 18 at 6 PM
Where: ALIF Riad

The Mirror
A young girl leaves school and discovers that her mother is not outside waiting. She boards what looks like the correct bus, but eventually realizes that she has gone the wrong way. A friendly driver begins to help the now irritable child. Suddenly she stops and announces “I don’t want to play this part anymore.” The story surprisingly becomes about making a film. The actress continues to be filmed without her knowledge.

Language :Arabic with English subtitles

Who: ALIF students
When: Saturday May 19 and Sunday May 20 at 6 PM
Where: ALIF Riad

A Passage to India
When liberal-minded English ladies Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested arrive in India, they’re shocked by the extreme racial prejudice that exists there. Fortunately, kind Dr. Aziz rises above the intolerance and guides the women on a splendid tour of the mysterious Marabar caves. But the outing turns tragic when Adela suddenly comes running from one of the caves–scratched, bleeding and terribly frightened. News of the incident quickly spreads across the whole of India…igniting a powder keg of tension just waiting to explode. “A rich tapestry woven of the clash between two cultures” (Newsweek), A Passage to India is supreme entertainment and a visual wonder that is truly spellbinding.

Langue: English

Who: ALIF students
When: Friday May 11 at 6 PM
Where: ALIF Riad

RESISTANCE[S]
The RESISTANCE[S] DVD compilation is a panorama of contemporary experimental creativity from this region of the world. The artists presented on this DVD (Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Taysir Batniji, Mounir Fatmi, Lamya Gargash, Usama Alshaibi, Jayce Salloum, Frédérique Devaux and Waël Noureddine) are all international travellers. Their identities have been shaped by the cultures they’ve encountered during forced or voluntary states of migration and exile. Using images to lead the narrative, each artist, no matter the style or medium, succeeds in raising fundamental questions relating to humanity, politics and aesthetics. The relationship between past and present, between tradition and modernity, geographical distance and culture gaps, the status of women in today’s Arab societies, the image of these societies as portrayed by the media, as well as a number of political concerns are all central themes of this program.

Language :Arabic with English subtitles

Who: ALIF students
When: Saturday May 12 and Sunday May 13 at 6 PM
Where: ALIF Riad

Anonymous
Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for century’s intrigued academics and brilliant minds such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when scandalous political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles lusting for the power of the throne were bought to light in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

Langue: English

Who: ALIF students
When: Friday May 4 at 6 PM
Where: ALIF Riad

The Tornado
Beirut, civil war. There are checkpoints, arbitrary executions, car bombs, machine guns, handguns, funeral processions, ambushes, hot heads, vendettas, and revenge. Cruelty and death are everywhere. Akram, who’s been studying in Russia, is back in Beirut on holiday and plans to visit his mother in his home village. But can he get there? He spends time with friends in the city; they tell stories of death. Danger is on all sides. Driving down the street may lead to murder. Touches of the surreal appear: are they real, are they dreams? Can Akram survive? If so, at what cost?

Language :Arabic with English subtitles

Who: ALIF students
When: Saturday May 5 and Sunday May6 at 6 PM
Where: ALIF Riad

Warrior
An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter and a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan’s unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense and winner-takes-all battle of their lives.
Language : English

Who: ALIF students
When: Friday April 27 at 6 PM
Where: ALIF Riad

Amir Addalaam
(The prince of darkness)
Adel is an ex-pilot who lost his vision in an accident and taken to a mysterious pension for the blinds. However, he continues to fight all the hardships and lead an ordinary life as an ordinary man. For the sake of being a hero, regardless of his deficiency, he plunges into an adventure of fantasy, emotion and humour. He, then, finds himself a confronting a mysterious terrorist group who were planning on killing the President of the Republic.
Language :Arabic with English subtitles

Who: ALIF students
When: Saturday april 28 and Sunday April 29 at 6 PM
Where: ALIF Riad