December 4 – 7:00pm
IN PERSON in Toronto: Bachir/Yerex Screening Room, 401 Richmond St. West, 4th floor IN PERSON in Montreal: Cinema Politica, Concordia University, Room H-110, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West IN PERSON in Vancouver: VIVO, 2625 Kaslo St
How can family memories inform solidarity? How can avant-garde voices engaging the past contribute to activism today? How can private archives queer public histories? How do yesterday’s photographs become tomorrow’s pictures? Foggy is a screening of recent short films that stage hybrid acts of montage, juxtaposition, re-enactment and dialogue, exploring the theme of solidarity as we make our way together through the fog.
Film program
Sultana’s Reign, Hadi Moussally, 10 min, Lebanon (2023)
English
Portrait of a proud Palestinian drag queen, holding court in New York
Hadi Moussally is a Paris-based filmmaker and artist whose films have won 25 awards and screened in over 200 international festivals. In 2020, he co-founded the collective ‘Hybrid Wave’ with 30 other artists.
Homecoming Queenz, Elias Wakeem, 11 min, Palestine (2023)
Hebrew, English (English subtitles)
Defiant Palestinian queens confront border guards at Ben Gurion airport
Elias Wakeem is a performance artist exploring themes of identity, and resilience through visual storytelling.
Layla, Noor Gatih, 4 min, (2021)
A young woman stares out a window as she daydreams about a part of herself that she’s unable to openly express.
Noor Gatih is a queer filmmaker who explores family and identity in her work.
Tempest in a Teapot, Amy Gottlieb, 7 min, Canada (1987)
Tribute to her radical mother’s activism and solidarity. Amy Gottlieb (1954-2023) was a Toronto queer artist, activist and educator whose lifetime of solidarity with Palestine inspired this screening.
Nazareth, Mike Hoolboom, 7 min, Canada (2023)
A return to the fateful year of 1948 in Israel, reframed by a single photograph that is taken up one face at a time.
Mike Hoolboom is an artist who writes and makes movies.
My Whole Heart is With You, Essa Grayeb, 9 min (2022)
An experimental video that transforms moments of tension and anticipation from Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s 1967 resignation speech into an emotional journey.
Essa Grayeb is a Palestinian visual artist based in Jerusalem whose practice traverses a range of media, primarily photography, moving images and installation.
Even a Dog in Babylon, Lior Shamriz, 11 min, United States (2023)
In collaboration with actor Myriam Ali-Ahmad, a radical staging of doubts & debates
Lior Shamriz is a filmmaker and artist based in Santa Cruz, California.
The Poem We Sang, Annie Sakkab, 13 min, Canada/Jordan (2023)
(Work-in-progress/Sneak Preview)
A creative catharsis of post-memory mediated through layers of love, loss, longing, and forced migration.
Annie Sakkab is a Toronto-Jordan photographer and filmmaker
Speakers
BH Yael, Co-curator & Moderator
BH Yael is a Toronto video artist who teaches at OCADU.
Marc Siegel, Co-curator & moderator
Marc Siegel is a Berlin-based film scholar and artist.
Presented by: Viral Interventions, The Arquives, Toronto Palestine Film Festival, Pal Fest, Trinity Square Video, Archive/Counterarchive, Cinema Politica, Vtape, VIVO
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