Celebrate the end of TPFF2011 with the first lady of Arabic hip hop, Shadia Mansour, in Toronto for the first time, together with hip hop artists and performers from the Middle East and Toronto including S.O.U.L Purpose (Mazzi), i-Voice (Yaseeen) and of course, our resident DJ Leila P!

Featuring filmmaker and director Ruba Nadda and Professor and Arab Feminist Activist Nahla Abdo. Moderated by NOW Magazine’s Entertainment Editor Susan Cole,

The Toronto Palestine Film Festival and NOW Magazine are proud to present Arab Women and Media Representation, a panel discussion with filmmaker and director Ruba Nadda and Professor and Arab Feminist Activist Nahla Abdo. Moderated by NOW Magazine’s Entertainment Editor Susan Cole, the discussion will centre on the degrees of representation of Arab women in mainstream and alternative media and entertainment. By asking these critical questions of how Arab women are presented and represented in film and media from the perspective of an academic and a filmmaker, we hope that our audiences will have an opportunity to engage with our panellists and leave with a new way of looking at representation in media.

Featuring award-winning composer, pianist and electronic musician, John Kameel Farah.

This year’s Sahtain – TPFF’s Traditional Palestinian Brunch – will feature a special live performance by award-winning composer, pianist and electronic musician, John Kameel Farah. Classically trained in composition and piano performance at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory, Farah received the Glenn Gould Composition Award twice during his studies. Toronto’s NOW Magazine named him as Best Pianist 2006 for his unique fusion of renaissance and baroque counterpoint, experimental improvisation, middle-eastern texture, ambient minimalism, Electronica and electro-acoustics. More recently, Farah was awarded the 2011 K.M. Hunter Artist Award by the Ontario Arts Council. To date, Farah has released two albums, Creation and Unfolding and is looking forward to releasing his next album in 2011. For more information on Farah, we invite you to visit his website and myspace page. This year’s Sahtain takes place on Sunday Oct 2nd and is being co-hosted by our community partner, Beit Zatoun. At the Brunch with John Kameel Farah, you will enjoy a traditional Palestinian brunch catered by the highly reviewed chef and owner of 93 Harbord, Isam Kaisi. The TPFF Brunch has been a sold-out event in all previous years and tickets to this year’s event is selling very fast. We highly recommend purchasing tickets to Sahtain soon, before they sell out this year as well! Please note that this event is not included as part of TPFF 10 Card; to purchase a ticket, please visit our website.