Date:
July 19, 2009
Time: 5:00 P.M.
Location: SCA 112, George Lucas Building, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Time: 5:00 P.M.
Location: SCA 112, George Lucas Building, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
SCA Alumni Screening Series: AFGHAN STAR
The School of Cinematic Arts and Zeitgeist Films
invite you and a guest to a special preview screening of
AFGHAN STAR
AFGHAN STAR
Directed by Havana Marking
Followed by a Q&A with Mariam Atash Nawabi,
hosted by Dr. Amir Hussain (LMU)
hosted by Dr. Amir Hussain (LMU)
5:00 P.M. on Sunday, July 19, 2009
SCA 112, George Lucas Building
School of Cinematic Arts Complex
900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO ALL.
SCA 112, George Lucas Building
School of Cinematic Arts Complex
900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO ALL.
MAKE A RESERVATION
Winner of the Directing and Audience Awards
2009 Sundance Festival World Documentary
2009 Sundance Festival World Documentary
ABOUT AFGHAN STAR
In Afghanistan, you risk your life to sing. After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, pop culture has returned to the country. Since 2005, millions are tuning in to Tolo TV's wildly popular American Idol-style series Afghan Star. Like its Western predecessors, the show features ordinary people competing for a cash prize and record deal. More surprisingly, the contest is open to everyone across the country despite gender, ethnicity or age. Two thousand people audition, including three extremely brave women. And when viewers vote for their favorites via cell phone, it is, for many, their first encounter with the democratic process.
Havana Marking's timely and moving film follows the dramatic stories of four young finalists — two men and two women — as they hazard everything to become the nation's favorite performer. By observing the Afghani people's relationship to its pop culture, Afghan Star is the perfect window into a country's tenuous, ongoing struggle for modernity. What Americans consider frivolous entertainment is downright revolutionary - and more human - in this troubled part of the world.Provided courtesy of Zeitgeist Films.
Unrated. Running time: 88 minutes.
UK/Afghanistan, 2009. In Dari, Pashtun and English with English subtitles.
Opens at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles for one week only on Friday, July 24.
To learn more about the film and to view the trailer, click here.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Mariam Atash Nawabi (Afghanistan Advocacy Group)
Mariam Atash Nawabi is an attorney, social entrepreneur, journalist and humanitarian activist. Mariam serves as Business Development Director for AMDi, Inc., a company with a focus on business and development projects in South Asia and the Middle East.
Mariam is also the host of PUL, a weekly public affairs program produced by America Abroad Media that connects the U.S. and Afghanistan. She is a Founding Member of the Afghanistan Advocacy Group, a national network that provides advice to policymakers regarding development and security in Afghanistan.
Dr. Amir Hussain (Professor, LMU)
Dr. Amir Hussain is Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University, where he teaches courses on world religions. His own particular speciality is the study of Islam, focusing on contemporary Muslim societies in North America. A fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, Amir was chosen by vote of LMU students in both 2008 and 2009 as the Professor of the Year. To visit his webpage, go to: http://bellarmine2.lmu.edu/theology/amir/
ABOUT THE SCA ALUMNI SCREENING SERIES
This June through August, 2009, the SCA Alumni Screening Series will host a wide array of film screenings and filmmaker Q&As, highlighting new blockbuster and independent American films, international and documentary features and recent work by our SCA Alumni. These screenings will be hosted in various SCA venues, including Norris Cinema Theatre, as well as SCA 108 and SCA 110. All screenings are free to the public but will require an electronic reservation, which can be made through the website for each individual screening. Many screenings will be overbooked to ensure that capacity is met in the theater. Some screenings will be run from digital sources.
To view the calendar for the Alumni Screening Series, click here.
ABOUT CHECK-IN & RESERVATIONS
This screening is free of charge and open to the public. The theater will be OVERBOOKED to ensure capacity and the RSVP list will be honored on a first-come, first-serve basis, with no reserved seating. Please bring a photo ID or print out of your reservation confirmation, which will automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 4:30 P.M.
ABOUT PARKING
The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 900 W. 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes may be purchased for $8 at USC Entrance Gate #5, located at the intersection of W. Jefferson Blvd. & McClintock Avenue. We recommend parking in outdoor Lot M or V, or Parking Structure D, at the far end of 34th Street. Please note that Parking Structure D cannot accommodate tall vehicles such as SUVs. Metered street parking is also available along W. Jefferson Boulevard.
Contact Information:
Alessandro Ago
213.740.2330
aago@cinema.usc.edu
| RSVP: | http://scacommunity.usc.edu/events/rsvp/eventRSVP.cfm?rid=348 |
| Event URL: | http://cinema.usc.edu/AfghanStar |
| Associated Person: | Alessandro Ago |
