Loosely translated, the title means “Machismo killed him.”

Such was the theme of “Omar Gatlato,” a 1976 film about one man’s struggle to define masculinity in post-colonial Algeria. The film marked Thursday night’s conclusion of the Arabic Film Festival, a monthlong cinematic exploration of Arabic culture. Twenty-two students attended the event, the majority of whom were in African and Asian languages professor Nasrin Qader’s Arabic language class.

“I chose a variety of films to show different topics and dialects,” Qader said. “The Arab world is so large that it is hard to describe it all.”

The other films shown over the four weeks were produced in Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco. The festival was sponsored by the African studies program.

Qader showed a new film every Thursday evening of the festival, choosing different themes to demonstrate the breadth of Arabic culture.

She said she was pleased with this year’s turnout.

“Last year very few people showed up,” she said. “More showed up this year than last.”

Weinberg’s African and Asian language program comprises courses in Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Swahili, Hebrew, Korean and Arabic languages.

Laughter and excited whispers followed many scenes in the movie, especially when the film addressed different cultures.

Mike McGillen, a McCormick freshman, is not in Qader’s class and occasionally was confused by the audience response.

“I thought it was interesting when people laughed, because I had no idea what was funny,” he said. “I guess I didn’t understand what was going on.”

Many students said they thought the film festival was a valuable event for campus cultural awareness. The film was introduced in both English and Arabic, and was prefaced by a description of its cultural context in Algeria. The film was an opportunity for students to learn about Algerian culture and the ways the film addressed issues such as colonialism and masculinity.

Some students say they feel cultural programming on campus is important to their educational experience.

“I think we could use more cultural activities,” said McCormick junior Saba Ahmad. “It is an opportunity for people to learn about different countries.”

While most of the attendees were members of Qader’s Arabic language class, for which the film was a requirement, some others attended out of curiosity about the film. History graduate student Jim Brennan has seen each of the festival’s four films. He said there are enough cultural events on campus, such as the film festival.

“I think there are opportunities,” he said. He said the low attendance was “just an issue of communication.”

Even so, Qader sees improvement and the program continuing to grow.

“Hopefully next year there will be even more people,” she said.