By Lauren Abunassar

“I think something that draws me to glass so much is that it is a very experience-based medium where the process itself is so captivating and exhilarating and fun, but also difficult. When you make the work, you're aware that there is a very large chance you're not going to get anything from it. Something may break, something may not exist at the end.”

By Elissa Odeh

At his show, Al-Rayess joked about one of the biggest cultural pressures in Arab culture — getting married. “I’m almost 30, so the questions never stop. Back home I would’ve been married to my cousin by now.”

By Joseph Fahim

“One Battle After Another” is not just about the U.S. — it’s a fable about the failure of the left worldwide. And for the Arab viewer, it’s impossible to watch the film without drawing comparisons to our own failures in the Arab Spring.

By Lauren Abunassar

“I cannot genuinely say I believe that my writing and publishing a book with a small press based in the U.S. is an act of resistance. For me, it tends to get into these questions about rhetoric, or about public opinion, or about changing people's minds or hearts through our writing. But I don't know that I would call that resistance.”

By Joseph Fahim

The success of “With Hasan in Gaza” in Locarno, where it was seen by thousands of people, has proven that there is a sizeable audience for films like Aljafari’s: an artistically and intellectually uncompromised cinema that rejects a digestible, ready-made message.

Gauri Mangala

The festival panel noticed a shift in this year’s collection of applications. While overall application numbers have dwindled, a larger proportion featured strong political themes and messages.