Opening Night - Arab-Canadian Shorts

Wendy Walker is an Indigenous singer-songwriter whose voice echoes the heartbeat of the land and the resilience of her people. With her powerhouse collective Walker & The Tribe, she blends roots, blues, and folk with the rich storytelling of her culture—delivering songs that are both ancestral and unapologetically modern.

Known for soul-stirring performances and lyrics that speak truth, Walker’s music is a call to spirit, justice, and belonging. Whether on a festival stage or around a sacred fire, Walker & The Tribe bring healing grooves, gritty beauty, and anthems that ignite hearts.

This isn’t just music—it’s medicine.

Canada | 19 min

Land Back from Turtle Island to Palestine.

Nawal, a young grieving Palestinian woman, forms an unlikely friendship with Tanya, an older Indigenous woman, becoming an accomplice to her guerilla gardening on the lawn of their apartment building. Together they battle with middle management to make it to harvest.

Directed by Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller

Fateema is a Queer Palestinian/Canadian filmmaker whose work explores themes of fragmented identity, isolation and connection through "oh no, should I laugh?" comedy. She is passionate about creating nuanced representation of Arabs and Muslims for the screen and prioritizes making space for marginalized voices in front of and behind the camera. Her short film EITR was one of 8 world-wide recipients of the InsideOut RE:Focus Fund and the film had its world premier at OutFest LA. Fateema is a Women in the Director’s Chair alumni and a current resident at the Canadian Film Centre Norman Jewison Directors’ Lab. She believes deeply in resistance and resilience through laughter.

Lebanon/Canada | 19 min

Alitisal follows three first-generation Lebanese-Canadian siblings—Wissam, Nour, and George—as they navigate mental health struggles after a deadly explosion in Lebanon leaves their parents’ fate unknown. Set over one night, the film explores the silent burdens immigrant families carry while witnessing their homeland’s suffering from afar. Each sibling reflects a different facet of immigrant identity, and as tensions rise, deeper emotional truths emerge. Through intimate storytelling, Alitisal reveals how trauma, fear, and distance impact those living between two worlds, highlighting the unseen weight of diaspora and the enduring ties to family and homeland.

Canada | 19 min

Adapted from Saeed Teebi’s short story "Cynthia," NADER’S GIRL is a darkly funny and sometimes disturbing exploration of masculinity, assimilation and performative allyship.

It follows a lonely Palestinian international student, Nader (Anas Hasan), desperate to fit in with his Western roommates — two misogynistic bros who exploit him for rent money and social currency during a wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests. Hoping to earn their respect, Nader invents a girlfriend named "Cynthia" (Megan Tracz). At first a fantasy of self-validation, Cynthia gradually devolves into a warped projection of Nader’s insecurities as a foreigner. But as reality blurs, he must decide whether to end the illusion or keep clinging to the only 'person' who values him.

Directed by Omar Mouallem

Omar Mouallem is an author and filmmaker. His feature-length debut, THE LEBANESE BURGER MAFIA (Paramount+), a first-person documentary about the unlikely link between a fast-food chain and Lebanon's civil war, premiered at Hot Docs 2023 and won Audience Choice at NorthwestFest, as well as Best Documentary and Best Documentary Director at the Silk Road Film Festival. He has directed three CBC documentaries, including DIGGING IN THE DIRT, an investigation into suicides in the oil and gas industry, and MAKING KAYFABE, an absurdist biographical comedy about his brief stint as a pro wrestler. Omar also wrote How Muslims Shaped the Americas, named one of The Globe and Mail’s Top 100 books of the year, and has written for The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and many others.

Host or Publisher Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society