4-Day Arab Film Festival Comes To Circle Cinema In Tulsa

A four-day Arab Film Fest is kicking off at Circle Cinema in Tulsa.

It's hosted by Mizna, a Minnesota organization that creates a platform for Arab American art, and this is the first time they're bringing the film festival to Tulsa.

Starting Thursday evening through Sunday, the Arab Film Fest includes six programs of Arab American contemporary films.

Tulsa Artist Fellow Moheb Soliman organized the event with Mizna. The organization holds these festivals on a greater scale in Minnesota.

He said the movies cover topics including family issues, youth and social media, identity and the Israeli-Palestinian border separating a family. The films represent different nationalities and genres, and there's a variety of types from documentaries to short films.

Circle Cinema Communications Manager Ryan Thomas said it's all about coming together and experiencing something new through movies.

"There's such a connective power there, that everyone's sitting in a theater for 90 minutes and seeing the same story, empathizing with those characters, and taking away something they may not have known before,” Thomas said.

"To me, it feels like this festival is coming into Tulsa at a really interesting moment where you know, we're dealing with a lot of different cultural issues, historical issues, the arts are just kind of really exploding in so many different ways,” Soliman said.

Tickets are sold on a pay-what-you-can scale ranging from $5 to $9. Circle Cinema recommends buying tickets in advance since seating is limited.

Click here for tickets.