As part of The Arab Film Festival, two films were screened at the auditorium. The film festival was organized by Yabous Productions, a Jerusalem based association; it was also organized in cooperation with several Palestinian cultural centers and institutes including: Khalil Al Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah, the Popular Arts Center in Al-Bireh, the International Center of Bethlehem, An-Najah National University in Nablus, Elsana Nazareth Cinematheque and the International Union of Francophone Press-Palestinian Section in Gaza.
The Festival agenda gathered 12 Arab films that have attracted major critical and public attention - most of the screened films obtained awards at significant Arab and International festivals. Two films were screened at the university; the first one was “A Flood in Baath Country” from Syria by the Director Omar Amiralay and is a sequel to the film he directed in 1971 - called Essay on the Euphrates Dam and praising the Ba’ath party’s Dams Construction project. The second film deals with the fatal construction flaws that have been discovered and explores the metaphorical implications of that weakness in a beautifully crafted piece of filmmaking.
The second film the “Control Room”, screened by the Egyptian-American Director Jehan Noujaim, talks about the Al-Jazeera TV Channel. It is considered the most influential news station in the Arab World with over 40 million viewers. The film takes us behind the scenes of the press coverage of the latest Iraqi war and to Al-Jazeera control rooms where the most controversial news and programs are made. The film also showed part of the conversations that took place between Lieutenant Josh Rashing, who was responsible for coordinating and dealing with different media agencies, and Al-Jazeera reporters; it highlighted the different point of views each side had about the war and American implications in the different conflicts around the world.