The Arab Film Festival marks its tenth anniversary this year with its most ambitious lineup to date: a total of 45 films (including full-length features, documentaries, and short subjects) representing 12 countries from North Africa to the Persian Gulf. With screenings in San Francisco, Berkeley, and in the south bay at Stanford University, AFF has become a small festival with a considerable reach. "To me, it's somewhat of a different operation than it used to be," explains AFF executive director Bashir Anastas. "It still is volunteer-driven and volunteer-run, but we have a much bigger volunteer base and we're trying to emulate the bigger, more successful operations." To that end, Anastas, AFF's director the last two years running, has personally steered the festival through some important organizational changes. Last year, for instance, the festival got on a better financial footing by securing tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status, which makes corporate sponsorship easier to obtain. Programmatic changes include the "Festival at the Schools" screenings for Bay Area high school students, now in its second year, which will feature opening night's "Zozo" -- Sweden's official 2006 Academy Award entry -- as part of AFF's outreach to over 400 high school students from both sides of the bay.
By Robert Avila