California State University, Fresno’s CineCulture Series continues at 5:30 p.m. today with the Farsi-language film “The Fish Fall in Love” (English subtitles) and at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, with the documentary, “Little Town of Bethlehem.”

Both are free and open to the public and include discussions following the screenings.

Today’s film will be shown in the Leon S. and Pete P. Peters Educational Center in the Student Recreation Center (Shaw and Woodrow avenues).Tomorrow’s will be screened in the Satellite Student Union (5241 N. Maple Ave.).

Based loosely on Persian fables, “The Fish Fall in Love” features Atieh, a restaurant owner on the Caspian coast, who is revisited by her ex-fiancé Aziz. Convinced that Aziz has come to close her restaurant, she begins to prepare his favorite dishes in a desperate effort to change his mind.

Dr. Nengin Tahvildary, part-time professor in the Department of Linguistics, will lead a post-screening discussion analyzing cultural significance of the film.

“Little Town of Bethlehem” examines the struggle of Sami Awad, a Palestinian-Christian, Ahmad Al’Azzeh, a Palestinian-Muslim, and Yonatan Shapira, an Israeli-Jew, to promote peace between Palestine and Israel through non-violence.

Awad, Shapira and Al’Azzeh describe events from their perspectives, including reflections and explaining how events such as the 1972 massacre at the Munich Olympics, the first Intifada, suicide bombings in Israel, the Oslo Accords and the assassinationof Yitzchak Rabin led them to pursue non-violent peace efforts.

“The film has no narrator and is unscripted so that the audience can hear directly and honestly from the people involved in the story,” said Linda Cano, executive director of Fresno Art Museum.

After the film, Shapira will speak about his experiences with the two troubled countries, the threats against his life and working on an Israeli military base.

The events are sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism and the Middle East Studies and Persian Language programs, as well as the Fresno Art Museum.

For more information including free parking, contact Mary Husain at 559.278.5702 or mhusain@csufresno.edu.

(Copy by University Communications news intern Nicole Maul).

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