Breaking barriers: Lebanese director Zeina Dacchache will have her film Scheherazade in Baabda screened at Riverside Theatres. She will also address audiences.
ARAB Film Festival Australia is calling on local filmmakers from Arabic-speaking communities to submit their stories for this year's festival.
The Arab Film Festival Australia runs from June 27 to July 14 at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta.
The festival will showcase stories from Arabic-speaking peoples through film.
The aim of the festival is to address the misrepresentations of Arab peoples and cultures by providing a space to present alternative representations of Arab subjects, cultures and narratives.
"Arab films reflect the experiences of Arab people," festival co-director Fadia Abboud said.
"Politics including social and cultural is always embedded, whether it be through comedy or romantic drama.
"The negative stereotypes of Arabs in the media often brings the community together, either out of a desire to redress the balance, or for the sake of reconnecting and affirming the truth."
The festival began in 2001 and attracts more than a 1000 people each year.
"The festival brings people together, to celebrate beauty, to bond and to connect," fellow festival co-director Mouna Zaylah said.
"There are very few places people can see Arabic-language films."
■ Details: arabfilmfestival.com.au.