Damascus, Syria: Haitham AL Hamwi is a producer, musician and composer. In 1989 Haitham built Sonata Recording Studio where he has participated in many television, theater, film and musical projects.
For Haitham, Arabic music has a wide variety of styles since the 22 Arabic countries each has its own style. Gulf music is different from Egyptian music, and Syrian music not like Emirates. Yet at the same time there are elements of similiarity.
Another exciting aspect of Arabic music is the mixing of the old Arabic instruments, with their unique rhythms and percussion with European rhythms. This combination is especially vibrant in dance music.
Jerusalem: Sabreen is an ensemble of Palestinian Arab musicians who extol old-fashioned virtues of patience and steadfastness. Their instrumentation includes traditional kawal, oud, qanoon and hand drums augmented with classical contrebass, cello and violin. Sabreen's lead singer is the accomplished and highly ornamented voice of Kamilya Jubran. Sabreen sings of godly devotion, romantic desire and Palestinian freedom.
"The Sea" from Sabreen's album Ala Fein.
Ougadougou, Bukina Faso, West Africa: In 2001 the Pan-African Cimema and Television Festival (Fespaco) celebrated African film and video makers with the presentation of more than 80 films, including 25 features. Founded in 1969, Fespaco has developed into an international event, with this years' theme to create an African film industry that is less costly than traditional movie making and that is open and accessible to the world.
The award for the best film went to Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch for "Ali Zaoua", a story about four children set on the streets of Casablanca. The Special Jury Prize was awarded for "Sia, the Dream of the Python" Dany Kouyate of Burkina Faso, a film exploring the tensions between traditional and modern life in Africa. "Rage", a film about an Africans' search for his identity in Europe, directed by Nigerian director Newton Aduaka won third prize.
Fescapo is held in Ouagadougou every two years
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