Bayflicks.net

I was able to preview two films screening at the Arab Film Festival:

Winterland, Camera 12, San Jose, Friday, October 26, 9:30; California Theater, Berkeley, Sunday, October 28, 7:00. I’ve already told you about this one in my weekly recommendations and warnings (it played in San Francisco this past Friday night). You’ll find my microreview here.

VHS - Kahloucha, Camera 12, San Jose, Saturday, October 27, 9:30; California Theater, Berkeley, Sunday, October 28, 3:30. This ‘Making of’ documentary gets off to a slow start, but it grows on you. It’s subject is Mouncef Kahloucha, a Tunisian action movie auteur whose budgets make Roger Corman look like Cecil B. DeMille. We follow Kahloucha as he gathers friends and neighbors together to work on his latest opus, Tarzan of the Arabs, which, judging from the scenes we see, is every bit as silly as the name implies. He even distributes the completed masterwork himself, by renting his three or four copies to neighbors. The man appears to have no talent whatsoever, but his chutzpah wins you over.