East Coast Travels

CAAP founder and ACCESS Deputy Executive Director Maha Freij was honored Oct. 19 in Washington by the American Task Force for Palestine (ATFP) with a Distinguished Service in Philanthropy Award.

Each year, ATFP honors the contributions of Palestinian Americans who have enriched their community and provided great service or unique achievement in the U.S. In addition to her efforts spearheading the creation of CAAP - a national program based on a community foundation model that leverages the collective giving of Arab Americans - ATFP recognized Freij for the key role she played in raising funds to create the nation’s only Arab American National Museum.

Following the award ceremony in Washington D.C., Freij traveled to Boston to visit two of CAAP’s grantees - Center for Arabic Culture (CAC) and the Boston Palestine Film Festival. Freij was very impressed by the 5th Annual Boston Palestine Film Festival, saying that in particular, “the program celebrating the legacy of Edward Said on Oct. 22 was excellent. I really enjoyed the performances by Palestinian students at Berklee’s College of Music.” While in Boston, Freij also attended a reception hosted at CAC where she discussed CAAP’s mission with members of the Boston Arab American community.

Fall Film Fests: Arab Cinema Across the Country

We are pleased to present a roundup of our grantee organizations’ upcoming events featuring the latest in excellent Arab feature films:

The Arab Film Festival opens in San Francisco today with Egyptian Maidens, directed by Mohamed Amin and centering on the dilemma faced by two cousins entering their 30 without prospective husbands. San Jose, Berkeley, and Los Angeles will also participate with over 40 films of their own.

Starting today in New York City, Alwan for the Arts presents a series of movie screenings, the first of which being Ahlaam by Mohamed Al-Daradji Iraq, followed by Microphone by Ahmed Abdalla.

The Boston Palestine Film Festival, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year, opens on Oct. 21 with The Time that Remains, directed by Elia Suleiman. Several Boston locations will feature 10 days of more than 50 award-winning films from renowned international directors.

Please be sure to visit our partners in California, New York, and Boston for these wonderful events. If you can’t attend, you can support Arab cinema in America by donating here, here, or here.