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Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 4:53PM 
Teta, Alf Marra (Grandma, A Thousand Times) by Mahmoud Kaabour is finally being screened in our cinemas this week till 9th November.
Although I have yet to see Teta, Al Marra myself, I've featured it on the blog a couple of times already - so now is my chance to watch it
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 11:30AM 
I've talked about Teta Alf Marra (Grandma, A Thousand Times) before, which premiered at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival last October and ended up winning the Audience Award for Best Documentary and a Jury Special Mention for its director Mahmoud Kaabour.
Since then, Teta, Alf Marra was at the Carthage Film Festival, returned to Doha to be screened at the opening of MATHAF: Arab Museum of Modern Arts and it will have its European premiere later this month at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam.
But the main reason I am featuring Teta, Alf Marra in this week's Trailer Tuesday is because it's finally getting its UAE premiere. It will be screened in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, 13th January at The National Theatre. It's on for one night only, but I hope more dates will be added soon.
Entrance is free and there will be free transportation provided from Dubai and back on thejamjar's ArtBus. Details on how to register and attend is added after the trailer.
Teta Kaabour is an 83-year old family matriarch and sharp-witted queen bee of an old Beiruti quarter. She’s been gripped as of late by the silence of her once-buzzing household where she raised children and grandchildren. Resigned to Argileh smoking and day-long coffee drinking on a now-empty balcony, Teta now invokes the deepest memories of her violinist husband who died twenty years ago. She claims a preparedness to re-unite with him.
Filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour, Teta’s favorite grandson and the bearer of his grandfather’s full name, has also been pre-occupied for years with the memory of his grandfather. Prior to his death, the late violinist had audio taped heart-wrenching violin improvisations in the privacy of his room in that same flat. That music, along with the details of his long career playing with the Arab world’s most famous divas, remains unpublished. The filmmaker’s anguish is compounded at the thought that this personal and cultural heritage, as well as grandma’s own stories, rare recipes, and naughty humor, will go with her when she parts this life.
“Teta, Alf Marra” brings together grandfather, grandmother, and grandson in a playful magic-realist documentary that aims to defy a past death and a future one. It documents with great intimacy the larger-than-life character of Teta Kaabour, her telling of the trials of her violinist husband and his Beirut, as well as her imaginings of what awaits her beyond death. All while the filmmaker constantly switches roles between the film’s silent creator, Teta’s grandson in front of the camera, and a re-enactor of his late grandfather. Meanwhile, the deceased violinist circles them with his seven violin improvisations that serve as the impetus of the film and its soundtrack.
Event details:
Date: Thursday, 13th January 2011
Venue: The National Theathre, Abu Dhabi (location map)
RSVP: communications[at]twofour54[dot]com
If you want to go on the ArtBus from Dubai, reserve your seat by contacting one of the following:
Email: info[at]artinthecity[dot]com
Phone: +9714 3417303
www.veritasfilms.ae
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Abu Dhabi, Doha Tribeca Film Festival, Gradma A Thousand Times, Grandma A Thousand Times UAE Premiere, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Mahmoud Kaabour, National Theatre, Teta Alf Marra, Teta Alf Marra UAE Premiere, UAE premiere, art bus, the jam jar in Film, Trailer Tuesday, United Arab Emirates Friday, October 8, 2010 at 11:55AM 
Teta and Grandson Kaabour
My first glimpse of Teta, Alf Marra (Grandma, A Thousand Times) was in February this year, when its director, Mahmoud Kaabour gave us a sneak preview of this film which he was still working on at the time.
I'm glad to find out the film is now ready and will premiere and compete at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival later this month and will also compete at the Carthage Film Festival during the same week.
If you are attending either of those festivals, please do go and watch it and I'm sure it will be screened at more festivals soon and hopefully in our local cinemas as well.
Teta, Alf Marra is a poetic documentary that puts a feisty Beiruti grandmother at the centre of brave film exercises concocted by her grandson to capture and commemorate her many worlds before they are erased by the passage of time and her eventual death.
Teta Kaabour is an 83-year old family matriarch and sharp-witted queen bee of an old Beiruti quarter. She’s been gripped as of late by the silence of her once-buzzing household where she raised children and grandchildren. Resigned to Argileh smoking and day-long coffee drinking on a now-empty balcony, Teta now invokes the deepest memories of her violinist husband who died twenty years ago. She claims a preparedness to re-unite with him.
Filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour, Teta’s favorite grandson and the bearer of his grandfather’s full name, has also been pre-occupied for years with the memory of his grandfather. Prior to his death, the late violinist had audio taped heart-wrenching violin improvisations in the privacy of his room in that same flat. That music, along with the details of his long career playing with the Arab world’s most famous divas, remains unpublished. The filmmaker’s anguish is compounded at the thought that this personal and cultural heritage, as well as grandma’s own stories, rare recipes, and naughty humour, will go with her when she parts this life.
www.veritasfilms.ae
www.dohafilminstitute.com/filmfestival
www.jccarthage.org
Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 10:03PM 
Film still from Miroir Noir
Miroir Noir, a music documentary about Arcade Fire was screened at the closing night of Mahmovies winter season on 17th Feb. It is a beautiful film, on so many levels.
It follows the band during rehearsals, concerts and many random moments in various locations. It doesn’t contain any actual dialogue between the band members and the viewer, so there’s nothing like the band explaining what they do, what this song means, etc. You are thrown straight into the band’s music and their interaction amongst themselves – which is the real dialogue they are having with us, the viewer.
