Windsor's new Middle Eastern film series hopes to inspire all communities to share their cultures
Organizers Rawa Kansoun and Makram Hassan are both from Lebanon
There's a new film series in Windsor that organizers hope can expose people to Arab cultures they've never experienced before.
The new monthly movie screening is called the Middle Eastern Film Series.
It runs every second Wednesday at the new Windsor Centre for Film, Digital Media & the Creative Arts in downtown Windsor.
Organizers Rawa Kansoun and Makram Hassan — both originally from Lebanon — say they're trying to use a form of art to show people things they've neer seen before.
Kansoun, who used to work as a producer and filmmaker in Lebanon, enjoys bringing a different type of cinema to Canada — like the movie West Beirut.
"People enjoyed it," said Kansoun.
"It was so emotional for us because we lived that experience in Lebanon. The movie is about the civil war in Beirut in 1975. So it was very emotional, very interactive between us and the audience."
Hassan says despite Windsor's rich Middle Eastern diversity, most people outside that community tend to only think of food instead of art and movies.
"I know we have delicious food from our country, but there's more than that we can share, especially in Windsor," he said.
"It's not just an opportunity to share our culture, our art, our movies — but to encourage others to start thinking to show their own culture."