Two Films From 2007 About the Middle East

Tonight I was blessed by seeing a Film Independent screening of "Persepolis," an old school animated film about a young girl growing up in a confusing times in Iran including the Revolution and the war with Iraq. When Marjane's talked back to the teacher too many times, her parents decide to send her to Europe for her own safety. She has trouble fitting in with life in France and later Vienna. She returns home to Tehran, Iran. She tries to deal with the politics of the day, but in the end she has to leave again for France. The visuals are stunning and its colorful characters have a wonderful sense of humor. The film has been getting festival acclaim and should be nominated for best foreign film at the Academy Awards.

"Persepolis" was nominated for Best Feature Animation in the 2008 Academy Awards.

The book that's been flying off the shelves over the last few years is finally here in movie form. The Kite Runner, directed by Marc Forster, is not only a great screenplay adaptation by David Benioff of Khaled Hosseini's novel, but a fantastic film! I attended a Film Independent screening on October 19th, 2007 at the DGA. It's a little movie that takes place mostly in Afghanistan about two young boys of different class levels. It's a Middle Eastern cast. No stars. It's very refreshing and hopefully the film does well. The film paints a nice canvas of how beautiful the country of Afghanistan once was. Colorful kites flying in the air by little boys with passions and dreams of tomorrow are smashed by the invading Russian army and later the Taliban. I truly hope this film grabs an audience as I, myself, have a similar screenplay with a Middle Eastern cast and locations.

"The Kite Runner" was nominated at the 2008 Academy Awards for Music, Best Original Score, by Alberto Iglesias.

Go find these films on Netflix and elsewhere.!