Sat, Nov 14
|7:30pm | Drama
THE STORIES
THE STORIES turns a 1967 pen-pal romance between an Egyptian pianist and an Austrian woman into a decades-spanning family story, inspired by the director’s own parents.
TIME & LOCATION
Nov 14, 2026, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
7:30pm | Drama, 10 S Lewis Ave, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
ABOUT
ABOUT THE STORIES
During the tense summer of 1967, as war looms over Egypt, aspiring concert pianist Ahmed begins a pen-pal correspondence with an Austrian woman named Elizabeth. Based on the actual meeting of director Abu Bakr Shawky’s parents, The Stories combines narrative vignettes with archival footage to create a decade-and nation-spanning time capsule of love and family in the ’70s. Together, Ahmed and Liz live through war, family joys, and opposition, as well as the failures and triumphs that rocked Egypt through the ’80s. The Stories is a chronicle of the small victories of a family trying to survive a country under the constant threat of change.
Arab Film Fest Tulsa is curated by Mizna, hosted by Circle Cinema, and supported by Tulsa Artist Fellowship.
Arab Film Fest Tulsa returns for a sixth year with acclaimed films and docs from the SWANA (Southwest Asia + North Africa) region, offering encounters with complex, authentic narratives from a spectrum of contemporary Arab world life. This year: an epic magical-realist Lebanese romance; a brilliantly comedic and stylized Egyptian drama on family and politics; a gorgeous coming-of-age story in a changing rural Sudan; an existential encounter with Qaddafi through a rare selection from Libya; a pair of incredible docs investigating American extremism and justice, from a Palestinian murder in California to cross-country cases–featuring Tulsa, OK. Join us for singular films, welcoming community, receptions with food and music, and special talks and guests.