HomeCulture & Art Documentary Feature Film Featuring Bouthaina Shaaban Based on her Writings, Lectures, and Life
Documentary Feature Film Featuring Bouthaina Shaaban Based on her Writings, Lectures, and Life
Sunday, 04 May 2008
Hamzeh Mystique Films & National Film Organization Presents
Documentary Feature Film
Featuring Bouthaina Shaaban Based on her Writings, Lectures, and Life
Written and Directed By Ziad Hamzeh Produced by Ziad Hamzeh, Bert Brown, Marc Sandler, Nina Cullen-Hamzeh
Against the oppressive environment of religious fanaticism, political turmoil, archaic traditions, and the rise of fundamentalist Islamic movements, one extraordinary Arabian woman rises up in a personal, revealing, and dangerous quest to champion justice and equality for all women.
WOMAN is a feature-length documentary based on the writings, lectures, and life of Nobel Prize nominee, activist Bouthaina Shaaban as she fearlessly ignites awareness while advancing the cause of rights for Arab women – from securing formal acknowledgements throughout the Arab world that women should be afforded basic human rights, to waging an international battle defending the integrity of the real Arab female, all accomplished with the firm hand of diplomacy and the power of her pen.
The film journeys back to Bouthaina’s beginning as a schoolgirl in a small obscure Syrian village to her evolution as a top international politician representing her country, while continuing her fight for female equality. WOMAN reveals Dr. Shaaban as an outspoken human rights activist and female leader living in a male dominated culture. Maintaining equilibrium between embracing the traditional values of Middle Eastern society and fighting for her deeply held belief that all people are created equal, she speaks out about the misconceptions of the female role in Islam.
Ultimately, we come to know her as an inspiring leader who is dedicated to uniting the spirit of humanity into one family on earth. It is Bouthaina’s humility and tolerance that elevates people’s hopes, fed by the fire of her passion and her quest for a better tomorrow – for everyone. Her enlightened path empowers the souls of those without a voice, invoking the strengths of the courageous, and shedding light onto those whose hearts remain in darkness. Bouthaina Shaaban is WOMAN.
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, a writer, lecturer, and professor at Damascus University since 1985, also serves as Minister of Expatriates in Syria. Before assuming her current ministerial position, Dr. Shaaban was Director of the Foreign Media Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Syria and a spokesperson for Syria.
Inspired by a strong-willed mother, Dr. Shaaban’s life and career has been dedicated to changing the social injustices that befall women in the Arab world. Her subsequent involvement in politics and foreign affairs as President Hafez Assad’s interpreter during peace negotiations set her on a unique career path. Over the past ten years, Dr. Shaaban has set an example for professional women working within the ranks of decision-makers in her country, trying to change not only the fate of women but the future of men and women alike. In 2005, she received the award for “The Most Distinguished Woman In A Governmental Position” from the League of Arab States. Her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 comes as a culmination to her efforts in serving the cause of peace in the world. She is married with two daughters and a son.
Among her major accomplishments are: • 2005: Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize • 2005: Award – “The Most Distinguished Woman In A Governmental Position,” League of Arab States, Cairo, Egypt • 2003 – Present: Minister of Expatriates; Ministry of Expatriates – Syria • 2002 – 2003: Director of Foreign Media Dept., Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Syria • 2000: Thelma McAndless Distinguished Professor Award, Eastern Michigan University • 1993 – 2003: Interpreter for the President of Syria • 2000 – 2005: Vice President – Arab Writers Union, Syria • 1990 – 1991 Fulbright Research Scholarship, Duke University, Durham NC • 1988 – 2002: Advisor for Minister of Foreign Affairs, Syria • 1985 – 2002: Professor of Romantic Poetry, English Dept., Damascus University • 1982 – 1984: Lecturer, English Department, Constantine University, Algeria • 1977 – 1982: PhD in English Literature, Warwick University, England • 1976 – 1977: Masters in English Literature, Warwick University, England • 1971 – 1975: B.A. in English Literature, Damascus University, Syria • Author – Books & Articles: Arab Women In The 20th Century; 100 Years Of Arab Women Novelists; Poetry And Politics: Shelley And The Chartist Poets; Both Right And Left Handed: Arab Women Talk About Their Lives; “The Hidden History Of Arab Feminism,” Ms. Magazine, New York, May/June 1993; “What Are Arab Women Authors Writing About?,” The Washington Report On Middle East Affairs, Washington, DC, February 1993; “Shelley And The Barmbys,” Keats-Shelley Journal, New York 1992; “As A Middle Eastern Woman, What Would I Change In My Country?,” The Washington Report On Middle East Affairs, Washington DC, July 1991; “Feminism Between Western Thought And Arab Reality,” Al-Baath Weekly, December 1998; “Arab Women Literature And English Women Literature: Ghada Samman & Virginian Woolf, A Comparitive Study,” Al Mawqif Al-Arabi, Damascus 1986
• Weekly Newspaper Columns: Al-Mustakbal (Lebanon); Asharq Al-Awsat (London); Al-Watan (Oman); The Daily Star (Lebanon); Tishreen (Syria); Asharq Al-Qataria (Qatar)
Ziad H. Hamzeh President & CEO – Hamzeh Mystique Films WOMAN Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
Ziad’s work has earned over forty awards for directing, producing, and writing, including the Kennedy Center Meritorious Achievement Award For Directing, The Chairman’s Award from Who’s Who Among Outstanding Americans, and the Medal of Honor from the Damascus International Film Festival. Currently Ziad is directing, writing, and producing numerous films, among them: Woman, Diamond Dusters, PlayByPlayMen and the art of the perfect call, The Blind Immigrant Who Saw Love, and Mapping Fate. Ziad’s work includes the AFI premier of The Letter: An American Town And The “Somali Invasion”, his controversial, multi-award winning feature-length documentary about the influx of black Muslim U.S. immigrants in a post 9/11 world. The Letter garnered powerful reviews and won numerous awards such as the Boston International Film Festival’s Indie Spec for Best Feature Documentary; it was honored as the opening film of the 2004 Amnesty International Film Festival. Ziad also directed the award-winning feature film Shadow Glories (Best of Festival/Best Feature Film: Dances With Films Festival; Best Feature Film: Woods Hole Film Festival; Grand Prize for Editing: Rhode Island International Film Festival), and Eternal Embrace for Unicorn Shadow Productions, winner of the 1999 Zoë Film Festival.
In Los Angeles, Ziad created two extraordinary theatres: The Open Fist Theatre and The Egyptian Arena. As artistic director of these award-winning venues, Ziad brought to the LA theatre community many prestigious international names such as Arrabel, Artue, Beckett, Brecht, Churchill, Gretzky, and Lorca. He directed and produced over sixty major award winning stage productions, among them Roxy Ventola’s After The Bomb, Brecht’s Baal, Sam Shephard’s True West, Arrabel’s Car Cemetery, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Tennessee Williams’ Vieux Carre, Nicholas Kazan’s Blood Moon, Poor Murderer, The Architect and Empress of Assyria, Cinders, Low Level Panic, and Dusa, Fish, Stas, and Vi.
Ziad has mentored and empowered numerous artists: Burr Steers, writer and director of the highly touted Igby Goes Down, starring Susan Sarandon and Jeff Goldblum; Juan Carlos Valdivia, creator of the breakthrough film Juno and the Pink Whale; Marc Sandler, actor, producer, and screenwriter of the multi-award winning feature film Shadow Glories; award-winning screenwriter Dalene Young; as well as countless others, all of whom found a haven for their creative powers when joining Ziad at The Open Fist. Ziad also teaches aspiring graduate and undergraduate students in directing, acting, and writing for film at The Maine International Film and Television Workshops and Rockport College. Ziad earned an MFA in Directing from California State University, Fullerton; an MA in Writing and Criticism from California State University, Los Angeles; and a BA in Theatre from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Bert Brown Hamzeh Mystique Films Vice President: Production WOMAN Producer
Bert has worked as a producer with director Ziad Hamzeh on the award-winning feature film Shadow Glories, The Letter: An American Town and the “Somali Invasion”, and Woman, as associate producer on PlayByPlayMen and the art of the perfect call, and as line producer on the TV pilot Eternal Embrace. He began his career in Hollywood working with Dove Films on national commercials with Academy Award-winning director/cameramen such as Haskell Wexler, Conrad Hall, and Vilmos Zsigmond. He served as a freelance production coordinator, production manager, assistant director, and line producer for numerous commercial production companies including Wexler-Hall Films, N. Lee Lacy & Associates, the Maysle Brothers, and Sid Myers Films; and with such notable directors as Tony Scott and Harold Becker. During this time he was also involved with the feature film Ali—The Greatest, two PBS Network series’, and music videos for A&M Records. Among the hundreds of commercials Bert produced were celebrity spots featuring such luminaries as Orson Welles, George Burns, Pearl Bailey, Carol Channing, Christie Brinkley, and David Copperfield.
In 1985, Bert formed Star Turn Pictures, a multi-director commercial production company. He served as its president and co-executive producer supervising strategic planning, marketing, sales, and production. Star Turn’s clients included top advertisers such as McDonald’s, General Mills, Pizza Hut, Chevrolet, and Mattel Toys.
Bert relocated with his family to Connecticut where he took on the role of director of the Connecticut Film & Video Office. He supervised all aspects of film office strategy and operations. During his tenure he was involved in bringing over 200 film and video projects into the state, 20 of them features. Among these features partially or entirely shot in Connecticut during this time were Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, Barry Levinson’s Sleepers, Rob Cohen’s Daylight, and Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm. Bert is a member of the Directors Guild of America.
Marc Sandler Hamzeh Mystique Films Vice President – Development & Creative Affairs WOMAN Producer
Marc has written and co-written six screenplays (Working Class Heroes, Tangled Up In Blu, Shadow Glories, Ballistic, Neverland, Hangman), and three television pilots (Doctors in Lala Land, Working Class Heroes, The Underground). He’s been a contributing writer to the TBS Network children’s show Feed Your Mind, worked as script analyst for The USA Cable Network’s feature film division, and has taught screenwriting at both the prestigious Maine International Film And Television Workshops and The Grub Street Writers private school in Boston. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Nicholl Foundation and The Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema have honored Marc for his screenplay Shadow Glories. Marc is currently developing his next screenplay, Sunset Rising, is producing the documentary Woman, associate producing PlayByPlayMen and the art of the perfect call, and worked as producer on the critically acclaimed and award-winning films The Letter: An American Town and the “Somali Invasion” and Shadow Glories.
A veteran actor of over twenty stage productions, Marc wrote, produced, and starred in the critically acclaimed and award-winning feature film Shadow Glories. He received the Critics Choice Award for best performance by an actor by the Los Angeles Dramalogue, and received a runner-up nod as best actor at The Riverrun Film Festival for his work in Shadow Glories. On stage, Marc has appeared in the original casts of Dalene Young’s Night Angels and Roxy Ventola’s After The Bomb, as well as the Los Angeles premiere production of The Pixley Caper and the re-staging of Orson Welles’ Moby Dick, Rehearsed. An original member of the award-winning Open Fist Theatre in Los Angeles, he acted, directed, taught acting classes and scene study, and served as assistant artistic director. He’s worked as both actor and assistant director with The West Coast Ensemble Company and studied acting and movement with The Philadelphia Company of the Walnut Street Theatre, as well as master classes with Misha Nuchi of The Moscow Art Theatre. Marc has appeared in several independent feature films, including Ziad Hamzeh’s Baal, Tony Spiridakis’ Self Storage, Marek Provost’s The Last Supper, and Jordan Ellis’ When Tomorrow Hits. As a director, he staged Harold Pinter’s The Lover, John Lewis Carlino’s Snow Angel, and the American theatrical premiere of April de Angelis’ Hush, all in Los Angeles. Marc is a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Nina Cullen-Hamzeh Hamzeh Mystique Films Partner, Member: Board Of Directors WOMAN Producer
Nina has been instrumental in the creation of multiple professional endeavors. As a founding teacher of the Marblehead Community Charter Public School in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Nina and her colleagues accepted the challenges of the Education Reform Act of 1993 and have created a school where all children achieve academically within the context of a nurturing community. The first of 42 charter schools to open in Massachusetts, Nina’s school is looked to as an example of excellence. As a founding member of the Open Fist Theatre Company in Los Angeles, California, Nina’s invaluable and varied contributions assisted this repertory company in becoming the highly respected theatrical oasis that it still is today. The Open Fist’s philosophy required that its actors continually improve their craft, unconditionally support each other’s work, and relentlessly challenge the audience with thought-provoking material. As a member of the board for Hamzeh Mystique Films, Nina’s contributions include strategic planning for the company, writing, and script selection. She is an Associate Producer on the documentary PlayByPlayMen and the art of the perfect call.
The New York Times: “Responsible and intelligent, and important as a record of a disturbing incident.” The New York Post: “A documentary thrill ride… THE LETTER moves as breathlessly as a Hollywood thriller – only it’s much more frightening because it’s true.” The Hollywood Reporter: “A powerful and timely portrait… An important social document that merits widespread exposure.” New York Magazine: “Expertly woven… as nail-bitingly effective as an good Hollywood thriller.” Critics pick. The New York Sun: “Thoughtful and revealing… a sober look at bigotry, fear, and hate… THE LETTER is a valuable document.” Variety: “…An especially dramatic work… of polemical reportage on racism in America.” LA Weekly: “A thoughtful, historically grounded, and utterly absorbing look at a quintessential American experience.” Winner: Best Documentary Boston International Film Festival Amnesty International Film Festival Opening Night Film Nominated: Best Documentary Pan-African Film Festival Official Website: www.hamzehmystiquefilms.com/theletter
The Los Angeles Times: “Powerful and distinctive… a mature, accomplished work… Strong, stylish, and uncompromising with portrayals of depth and impact.” Boston Magazine: “Shiver inducing on a level ROCKY could never be.” Box Office Magazine: “Tough, strong-minded… full of sound and fury.” Film Threat Magazine: “Epic on a budget-level character study… Especially its ending packs a raw jolt.” Winner: Dances With Films Festival, Los Angeles – Best Of Festival, Best Feature Film Winner: Woods Hole Film Festival – Best Feature Film Winner: Rhode Island International Film Festival Best Editing Grand Prize Official Website: http://www.shadowglories.com/
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