Arab Stories

From the owner of a market to a community activist, and including the president of board of the Arab film festival, successful leaders tell about their careers, achievements and experience of being an Arab figure in the Bay Area.

  • Aziz Tazi
    Director
    Imago, Night Walk
  • Aziz Tazi
    Writer
    Imago, Night Walk
  • Serge Bakalian
    Producer
    Way of the Warthogs, Default: The Student Loan Documentary
  • Sam Mogannam
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Lara Kiswani
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Rob Knox
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Jess Ghannam
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Television
  • Runtime:
    18 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 29, 2013
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • PBS
    Nationwide
    United States
    October 29, 2013
    World Premiere
    Aired Nationwide on TV
Director Biography - Aziz Tazi

Aziz Tazi's dreams of becoming a filmmaker were first seeded when he was a child making video game films in Casablanca, Morocco. The videos went viral and some were awarded "Best Visual Effects" and "Most Innovative" by a popular gaming website after he turned 15.
In 2012, Aziz received funding from his engineering school in Paris and French bank BNP Paribas to direct and produce Imago. This psychological thriller about paranoia and madness was screened at international film festivals and opened the Arab Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2013. Pursuing his studies at the world-renowned University of California at Berkeley, Aziz made a documentary about successful Arab leaders in the U.S. called "Arab Stories: Bay Area," which aired on PBS.
After a year of working as creative director for the Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, spearheading an ambitious effort to make UC Berkeley's entrepreneurship education available to everyone online, he moved to L.A. where he became the festival manager of the Arab Film Festival. After five years of living here, he now wrapped his first feature film "Night Walk" between L.A. and Morocco along with a star-studded cast including the likes of Golden Globe and BAFTA Winner Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler, Iron Man 2) Oscar-nominee Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, The Expendables) Tiny Lister (Friday, The Fifth Element), Patrick Kilpatrick (Minority Report), Richard Tyson (Kindergarten Cop) and Louis Mandylor (My Big Fat Greek Wedding).
Aziz made the cover of Morocco's highly-acclaimed "Challenge" magazine and was voted "Top 50 Men of the Year 2013" by VH Magazine, next to prominent Moroccan politicians and businessmen. In 2016, he was also featured on Forbes Africa's "30 Under 30" as a leading change-maker under 30 years old.

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