"When I first immigrated here to Northern California, when I was seven-and-a half years old, some of my classmates asked me where I was from. I asked them to guess. Not once did they ever guess that I was Arab. They picked Hispanic, Jewish, Italian, everything, but Arab was never mentioned. That said to me that they really don't know anything about our culture."

What movie and film images spring to mind when you think of Arab people? There are countless television news stories that, by and large, depict the twenty-two Arab nations as barbaric netherworlds that bear little relation to the advanced societies of our western world.There's that sword-swinging, black robed, man shot by Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Oh, and then there's the Lebanese American Kathy Najimi who is the star of a television situation comedy. Do these images truly represent the breadth and depth of Arab life? Dina Saba didn't think so.

By day, Ms. Saba is a chemist who works for a pharmaceutical company. But three years ago, with the inspiration of two other women she met in an organization called AWSA, the Arab Women's Solidarity Association, she decided to start the first independent Arab Film Festival in the country. San Francisco is a friendly home to ethnic film festivals and is receptive to showing non-Hollywood films. Saba saw an opportunity, and with no formal background in the film world, she went out to solicit volunteers and funding. The response from the Arab and non-Arab community alike was positive, and the festival was launched in 1997 to an audience hungry for an array of authentic Arab cinematic images.

The festival has trebled since its inception, screening a dozen films in 1997 and 37 films this year. Why did it take so long for such an event to take place? Ms. Saba notes, "There's always been interest, but it was a new concept. A lot of Arabs who live in America are afraid to be heard because of the negative stereotypes and discrimination. They just don't want to be involved anymore."

It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand up and be heard with against a cultural tide of misinformation. Dina Saba's initiative to keep the festival going provides a forum to educate the American community about the Arab world, and at the same time offers a vision of realistic screen images for the Arab community itself. It's gratifying to see the power of the silver screen used to such great purpose.

Learn more about the Arab Film Festival at its home page, http://www.aff.org.