(Re)thinking Displacement

(Re)thinking Displacement 

What can images do in the age of ongoing occupations, atrocities, militarized borders, and forced migration? How can we mobilize words, images, and bodies in the face of their forced displacement? Come and join us at this short film event to watch and discuss the films linked to displacement.

With:

Lucie Fortuin is a writer and researcher interested in collaborative and speculative text. She holds an MA in Critical Studies from the Sandberg Institute (Amsterdam), and is pursuing a PhD in Feminist Studies (CES, Portugal). Her work appeared in Perdu, de Appel, Manifold Books, et al. She is editor at DIG.

Ibrahim Kurt has a BA in Media and Culture from the UvA (2014). He is currently finishing his MA at St. Joost. Through video work and installation he invites conversation on diasporic and migratory struggles. Rather than polemic and resolute, his work notes the fragilities and sensitivities part of such struggles.

Our House is Only Half Finished 

Scattered, like a migrant’s body, we build, break and rebuild. With just enough stones to construct only a small part of the house, we constantly have to tear down what was only just made. A crumbling, a disappearing: a house unfinished, but creating space for other homes to be built.

Yazan Rabee (1994) was born in Syria and fled to the Netherlands in 2016, with the singular goal to become a filmmaker. He had no plan B. Six years later he graduated from film school and went on to release two short films nearly simultaneously: fiction short Beyond the Sun, about the brainwashing program of the Syrian regime, and BACK, an introspective documentary about a recurring nightmare shared by many Syrians who have fled their homeland. In his work, which spans the range from fiction to documentary and often intertwines the two, he chooses to focus on mentally and socially damaged persons, often drawing from his own memories and dreams.

BACK a chase, footsteps closing in; as you approach your house, it moves further away. This is a recurring nightmare, shared by many Syrians who have fled their homeland. At night they find themselves back in their hometowns, running, chased by invisible men. They’re looking for a safe place they can never reach. BACK dives into this nightmare to examine where it stems from. Did the trauma start at the protests against Bashar al-Assad, like it did for director Yazan Rabee? Or do we have to go back further to the terror during the reign of Bashar’s father, Hafez al-Assad?

Farouk Ebaiss (they/she/he) is a visual artist, human rights activist, and storyteller, born in Tripoli and currently based in Amsterdam. Farouk studied at the Fine Art and Media University of Tripoli and holds a master’s degree in media and communication. Farouk’s artistic themes encompass power dynamics, belonging, identity, displacement, borders, racism, and reflect on the human rights paradox within the experience of time. Their work has been exhibited at various venues such as the Amsterdam Museum, Rijksakademie, Framer Framed, Oude Kerk, Open Ateliers Noord, and NTR.

Micha Adarian: It Is a Fight, this poignant documentary captures the life of Micha Adarian, a Lebanese transgender refugee. Born in Lebanon in 1991, Micha defied societal norms, advocating for women’s empowerment and social justice. After bravely coming out as transgender and surviving an transphobic attack in lebanon, she faced displacement and sought refuge in the Netherlands and she is still searching for her rights and advocating for her community. Micha’s story is one of resilience, activism, and the pursuit of justice. The film is part of the “Faces & Places” storytelling multimedia platform.

Enes Kilic, a cinema student at Galatasaray University in Istanbul, spent the summer of 23 at La Fémis’s documentary school in Paris. His artistic endeavors encompass communication studies, video games, post-cinema, and urban studies. Additionally, he conducts programs on cinema as a co-founder of the Shadows Podcast.

Landless, an essay film exploring the relationship between humans and propaganda, spanning from the enslaved individuals of 16th-century Saint-Domingue to the digital ‘Sisyphus’ role embodied by NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the popular video game, Assassin’s Creed.

Shant Bayramian, an Armenian-American scholar, lecturer, and audiovisual essayist, holds positions at the University of Groningen and Inholland University of Applied Sciences, specializing in Film and Media Studies, with a focus on Diasporic Cinema. He is celebrated for his scholarly contributions, including curated film programs and published audiovisual essays exploring the intricacies of Diasporic Cinema, particularly within the Armenian context.

The Transformational Potential of Atom Egoyan’s Calendar (VR-essay), pioneers a scholarly exploration of Atom Egoyan’s Calendar in a 360-degree virtual environment. By immersing viewers in the perspective of a diasporic character, it cultivates empathy and prompts reflection on cultural belonging. Through neo-formalist analysis, it illuminates the complexity of audiovisual diasporic identity representation within the Armenian context.

*More filmmakers will be announced in the run-up to the event.

Timeschedule:

18:00 Entrance with an modest meal
19:00 Start event, screenings
20:00 Q&A with the makers
21:00 Drinks and dialogue
22:00 Goodbye

Register form
The entrance fee is €5, and includes a modest meal. You can register using the form below, payment is done on site.
*Entry is free for refugees and undocumented immigrants.

Contact information
If you have any questions for the organisation, you can reach them at nederlandskoerdischinstituut@gmail.com.