The 2009 Middle East Festival, MESP 2009

31/1 – 19/2/2009: Middle Eastern Film Festival
19/2 - 27/2/2009: MESP 2009 Pre Events
28/2 - 15/3/2009: MESP 2009 Main Events
17/1 - 16/3/2009: Exhibitions and Displays

On-Line Ticket Sales

Festival Brochure, Poster and Flyers Downloads

Festival Workshop Registration Forms

Festival What's On Today

From Saturday 28 February – Sunday 15 March 2009 the 6th Annual Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, MESP 2009, will bring together people from a wide range of spiritual backgrounds, people working with peace, conflict, reconciliation and justice, educators, teachers, scholars and students, people from artistic and cultural backgrounds, people working with health, wellbeing and healing experiences and concerns, people from diverse cultures, traditions and communities, and people from across Scotland and internationally.







More generally, everyone participates in an individual and non-representative capacity, to allow people to draw upon their own unique individual experiences and to share their unique visions and perspectives, and people of all backgrounds who respect the Festival ethos are warmly invited to participate in this spiritual, educational, artistic and cultural and international festival which celebrates peace and mutual understanding.

There will also be externally organised pre events from Thursday 19 February – Friday 27 February 2009, and a Middle Eastern Film Festival at the Filmhouse from Saturday 31 January - Thursday 19 February 2009, and there will be exhibitions and displays from Saturday 17 January – Monday 16 March 2009 at venues across Edinburgh.

The non-political nature of the Festival allows for an exceptional diversity among the participants. In total there will be some 80 events in MESP 2009, including pre-events, with speakers and guests from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and UK.

The Festival is jointly organized by the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity SC038996, and the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning, EIAL, supported by partner organisations, funders, hosting organisations, as well as participating individuals and communities.

In MESP 2009 twelve thematic strands to the Festival will be explicit, to allow a range of entry routes into the Festival, and to allow a range of participation identities, namely:

1. Spirituality, Interspirituality and Intraspirituality;
2. Peace, Conflict, Reconciliation and Justice;
3. Education and Learning;
4. Arts and Culture;
5. Health, Wellbeing and Healing;
6. Equality, Diversity and Communities;
7. Environmental Responsibility and Climate Change;
8. Engagement with Science and Medicine;
9. Engagement with Communication Media;
10. Engagement with Business and Industry;
11. Engagement with Government, Parliament, NGOs and Civic Society;
12. Celebrating Scotland, the UK and the Middle East.

The Festival brings together at least three different kinds of presentations. First, we hope to learn from each other about our shared traditions, as well as those that form the unique voice of any one of us. Second, we will hear from those who have been active in peacemaking on a spiritual and secular basis on the ground in the Middle East. Third, we invite participants to share in the musical and spiritual practice presented, in order to gain an experiential view of the traditions that we discuss.

One of the Festival’s overriding aims is to contribute to peace and mutual understanding through dialogue, spiritual and artistic practice, and improved mutual understanding among the spiritual, secular, educational and artistic and cultural traditions that have arisen in what is now known as the Middle East, and among those who have found a home in Scotland. No speaker represents, or can represent, the totality of any tradition, and experiential and evaluative perspectives are particularly welcome.

Festival participants are invited to shape their own experience during the Festival, and to take personal responsibility for participating as peacemakers and community builders. In particular, participants are invited to take personal responsibility for processing any conflicts or obstacles to peace that they experience, and for self-evaluating their own participation as peacemakers and community builders for the benefit of their wider life experience.

Conflict and obstacles to peace are of central importance in the lives of peacemakers and community builders. They hold seeds for our spiritual, personal and creative development and can provide energy to sustain such development. The Festival provides many opportunities to engage spiritually, creatively and non-violently with conflict and obstacles to peace in supportive and non-judgmental environments, allowing participants the opportunity to transform conflicts and obstacles to peace into new perspectives, insights and actions.

The Festival is managed as a charitable event for wide public benefit, and all events in the Festival should reflect, and all participants in the Festival should respect, the Festival Equal Opportunities Policy.

Middle East Festival Co-Founders and Co-Directors Neill Walker and Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz said:

‘The Festival positively affirms the diversity contained within the spiritual and cultural traditions of the Middle East, as well as those here in Scotland. The Festival takes no fixed position on any political, ethical or cultural question. We intend rather to create a forum in which we can listen to one another deeply and learn with open minds and hearts. The emphasis of the Festival is on spiritual, secular, educational and artistic and cultural approaches to peace and mutual understanding.’

Contact:

Neill Walker, +44 (0) 131 331 4469,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.mesp.org.uk



Notes for Editors

● Middle East Festival Website: www.mesp.org.uk

● Middle East Festival News Releases and Articles: news releases for the 2009 Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace can be downloaded from the Festival Website, www.mesp.org.uk, or are available from Neill Walker, 0131 331 4469, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

● Middle East Festival Interviews and Photo Opportunities: contact Neill Walker, 0131 331 4469, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

● Middle East Festival Pictures: some emailable pictures for the 2009 Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace are available from Neill Walker, 0131 331 4469, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

● Middle East Festival Brochure: a PDF of the full-colour A5 Festival Brochure for the 2009 Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace will be available to download from the Festival Website, www.mesp.org.uk, or hard copies are available from Neill Walker, 0131 331 4469, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

● Middle East Festival Poster: the Poster for the 2009 Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace will be available to download from the Festival Website, www.mesp.org.uk, or it can be emailed as a high resolution jpeg from Neill Walker, 0131 331 4469, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

● Further Middle East Festival Information: further information on the 2009 Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace can be downloaded from the Festival Website, www.mesp.org.uk, or is available from Neill Walker, 0131 331 4469, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

● Festival Booking Offers and Passes: The following Festival Booking Offers and Passes are available for MESP 2009, during the dates Saturday 28 February - Sunday 15 March 2009 inclusive, for the events in Edinburgh:

Attend 5 workshops, get one free.
1 week pass: £130/£100 (Concessions).
2 week pass: £200/£150 (Concessions).
16 day pass: £240/£180 (Concessions).
1 weekend pass: £40/£30 (Concessions).
2 weekend pass: £70/£55 (Concessions).
3 weekend pass: £100/£80 (Concessions).

● Concessions: Concessions are available to Senior Citizens, the Unwaged, Students and the Disabled. In the case of those who are visually impaired and those in wheelchairs, the concession is extended to one escort. Please inform us of any special needs well in advance.

● Festival Event Booking and Booking Offers and Passes:

Online: www.mesp.org.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 131 331 4469
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Events can be booked online, using Paypal, and workshop registration forms or a Festival Brochure or Poster can be downloaded through www.mesp.org.uk. You can also email or phone to receive event information, workshop registration forms or a Festival Brochure or Poster.

● Middle East Festival Funding and Support: The Festival organisers would like to acknowledge and thank those organisations and individuals who have offered financial and in-kind support to this Festival.

Financial and in-kind support towards the Festival in general has come from the Scottish Government, the City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Screen, Awards for All, the List, EAE, Direct Distribution, the Kalliopeia Foundation, the Shalem Institute, the Pump House Trust, the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace, EICSP, Scottish Charity SC038996, and the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning, EIAL. Support for individual events is listed beside the event itself.

In-kind support has come from organizations who we have worked with to organize specific Festival events. These organizations are listed beside the specific events which they have been involved with. Further in-kind support has come from a range of hosting and supporting organizations and individuals.

● Middle Eastern Film Festival:
Saturday 31 January - Thursday 19 February 2009

Event: Middle Eastern Film Festival.
Organisers and Partners: 2009 Middle East Festival, MESP 2009, Edinburgh Iranian Festival 2009, the Filmhouse, the Persian Society of the University of Edinburgh and the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Edinburgh, supported by the Scottish Iranian Community and the British Council, with funding from Scottish Screen.

This project is organised by Neill Walker (on behalf of MESP 2009), committee members (on behalf of Edinburgh Iranian Festival 2009) and James McKenzie (on behalf of the Filmhouse), and is managed by Neill Walker (on behalf of the EICSP). The film programmers are James McKenzie, Maryam Ghorbankarimi and Stephanie Tait.

Venue: The Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9BZ.
Dates: Saturday 31 January – Thursday 19 February 2009.
Event Description: The purpose of the Middle Eastern Film Festival is to provide a focus for the study and promotion of Middle Eastern cinema. The geographic area covered by the Festival broadly covers that outlined in Oliver Leahman’s ‘Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film,’ which includes Central Asia, North Africa, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Iraq.

The Iranian films will represent the three generations of films and filmmakers in the post revolutionary years in Iran showcasing the wide breadth of talent and innovation that exists in Iranian cinema. This will include films by some well-known directors who have helped build Iranian cinema's reputation along with some films by lesser-known directors who have been unjustly overlooked, and finally some films by new Iranian talents who have emerged in the last couple of years. Other Middle Eastern films in the Festival will feature the best of contemporary Middle Eastern cinema.

This Middle Eastern Film Festival hopes to introduce and educate new audiences about Middle Eastern films and culture, bring together Iranian and other communities, providing networking opportunities for filmmakers, and to allow for question and answer sessions that will accompany some of the film screenings.

This year the Middle Eastern Film Festival has focused on mapping the changing and evolving character of Iranian cinema, reintroducing some of the most significant works of the last two decades, including the works of auteur directors Bahran Beizai (Bashu, the Little Stranger), Abbas Kiarostami (Where is the Friend’s House?) and Amir Naderi (The Runner), whilst also highlighting the works of lesser-known, but influential, female directors such as Rakhshan Bani Etemad (Nargess), Tahmineh Milani (Two Women) and Manijeh Hekmat (Three Women). Also included is an example of the highly under-represented war genre, The Scent of Joseph’s Shirt by Ebrahim Hatamikia, who for the first time focused his camera on the aftermath and the influence of war on the home front. Rounding off this section are some fine examples from Iran’s new generation of filmmakers, including recent award-winning films As Simple as That (Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi), Lonely Tune of Tehran (Saman Salur) and Have You Another Apple? (Bayram Fazli).

The festival also provides a platform for three remarkable feature length directorial debuts, Seyfi Teoman’s beautiful and lyrical Turkish drama Summer Book, Lebanese filmmaker Michel Kammoun’s gritty but playful comedy Falafel, and Chadi Zeneddine’s surreal journey through war-torn Beirut, Falling from Earth.
For finalised details see: http://www.filmhousecinema.com/
Contact and Booking: 0131 228 2688, http://www.filmhousecinema.com/