Program
Thursday September 7th at 6:00PM (EST)
شويّة لقلبي وشويّة لربّي
A LITTLE FOR MY HEART AND A LITTLE FOR MY GOD
1993
Algeria, Sweden
directed by Brita Landoff
58 minutes
Synopsis :
Since in Algeria most women traditionally are not allowed to mix with men, female orchestras customarily entertain gatherings of women. When they play, women remove their veils and dance, away from the view of men. All summer long one can hear music from roof terraces and walled gardens as women celebrate engagements, weddings and the circumcision of their sons.The Meddahates are women musicians who perform for other women. Though they are much in demand, they are held in low esteem. Many are widowed or divorced and have fallen on hard times. But their earthy humor and erotic showmanship delights their normally constrained sisters. This film is a portrait of one such orchestra. Only a woman filmmaker could have penetrated this closed environment and captured on film such a spontaneous and colorful portrait. Paradoxically, this orchestra includes Sidi Ahmed and Amin, a gay couple. Nobody seems to question their presence, the only men in an exclusively female world.
Queerness as performance in North Africa :
Following the live screening at Cinéma Public, Dhakira Collective moderated a panel talk with Esraa Warda (Algeria-USA) and Achraf El Abed (Tunisia-Canada) on the special place queerness holds in the long-lasting culture of performance in North Africa.
Event presented in partnership with:
Sunday September 10th at 2:15PM (EST)
QUEER UTOPIAS:
SHORT FILMS PROGRAM #1
OUT OF THE BLUE (2023)
directed by Tarek Lakhrissi
France, 13 minutes
VENUS RETROGRADE (2021)
directed by Valentin Noujaïm
France, 6 minutes
BRIGHT HEART (2023)
directed by Tarek Lakhrissi
France, 6 minutes
DAUGHTERS OF DESTINY (2021)
directed by Valentin Noujaïm
France, 28 minutes
Overview:
The films in this program combine the visual codes of science fiction, fantasy, imagination, poetic cinema, queer icons with representations of gender/queer and racial minorities to paint a critical portrait of our societies.
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Accompanied by a special discussion with Valentin Noujaïm (French only), moderated by:
Thursday September 14th at 6:00PM (EST)
ريح السّد
MAN OF ASHES
1986
Tunisia
directed by Nouri Bouzid
109 minutes
Synopsis :
The film uses flashbacks to tell the story of two young men, Hechmi and Farfat, who are trying to come to terms with their traumatic childhood experiences. Both were victims of sexual abuse as child apprentices to a carpenter in a provincial Tunisian town. One character, Farfat, becomes openly gay, and although the community rejects him he defies them and even murders the person who violated him. The other one, Hechmi, tries to address his sexual orientation within the parameters of an arranged marriage his father forces on him. The narrative is presented as commentary on not only the father's attitude but on patriarchy and machismo. The sole positive relationship with a father figure manifests in the elderly Tunisian Jew Mr Levy to whom Hechmi can talk openly, and who dies shortly after his appearance in the film. The film leaves unresolved how traditional society will adapt itself to one of its own who cannot fit within prescribed models of behavior.
صاحبتي / MY GIRL FRIEND (2023)
directed by Kawthar Younis
Egypt, 16 minutes
HUNDEFREUND / DOGFRIEND (2022)
directed by Maïsa Lihedheb
Germany, Tunisia, 18 minutes
بابا / BABA (2022)
directed by Adam Ali et Sam Arbor
Libya, UK 16 minutes
Sunday September 17th at 6:00PM (EST)
NOW YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON'T: SHORT FILMS PROGRAM #2
Overview:
Crossing the borders of nation, race, gender and sexual identity, three short films explore (in)visibility, hiding and authenticity through characters who refuse definition.
Friday September 22nd at 8:00PM (EST)
أنياب
ANYAB
(FANGS)
1981
Egypt
directed by Mohammed Shebl
100 minutes
Synopsis :
An Egyptian remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show from 1981, completely reinvents O’Brien’s classic, refocusing his efforts on a horde of flamboyant vampires who enjoy nothing more than a sing-a-long. A girl and her fiancé are on their way to a party of New Year’s Eve, but their car has an accident, and they find nowhere to go except a strange castle. They met there with many vampires, led by count Dracula, who instantly fall in love with the girl, wanting her for himself. The two lovers discover that Dracula is in Egypt in many forms and images to suck not the people’s blood but their money, as the typical profiteer of our modern days. Mohammed Shebl’s 1981 adaptation of Rocky Horror isn’t just a cult classic, “Anyab (Fangs)” is an astute commentary on the Egyptian socio-political climate all wrapped up in disco, glam and vampire fangs!
Presented in partnership with:
