19 May, Maqam TV Film screenings, A.MAL Collective & Studio Noujoum La Gironde listening session with Performance by Saad Elbaraka, Les Étoiles de Jemaa El Fna, 7.30 pm to 11pm 

A SMA3 AHYA / listening to organic matter with A.MAL Collective & Studio Noujoum la Gironde with performance by Saad Elbaraka (40mins) 

This listening session invites the audience to immerse themselves in a sonic composition made in collaboration with nature over the course of two organic matters workshops led by A.mal Collective during the festival. In the courtyard of Les Étoiles de Jemaa El Fna you will be invited to lay down, find a soft space, relax and reflect on the sonic composition constructed by Saad Elbaraka and a live intervention from Mohktar Hsina. 

 In nature, each moment is a symphony of sounds that connect us to the earth and our essence. While some foresee a future of rapid technological progress, this sonic offering proposes a more grounded vision. Nature, beyond futuristic perspectives, remains a constant presence, embodying both our origins and our destiny.

To harmonize nature and music, creating a captivating sensory experience, we will explore the interplay between music, environment, and emotions through an immersive auditory performance. Using a blend of recorded sounds from the “Organic Matters” workshop participants, electronic elements, and musical orchestration, my aim is to deepen the audience’s connection with nature and their own sentiments. This performance seeks to bypass futuristic technological advancements that may disrupt harmony with nature, fostering a reimagining of the future under an ecological lens.

A.MAL is an art and research initiative exploring ecology, migration and globalization through speculative art and research projects. We cast a critical eye on past and present global issues while seeking to harness human connection and creativity to imagine a better, more hopeful future, always questioning, always exploring. We are keen to contextualize ecological concerns within contemporary global relations and climate justice in the context of North Africa.

We create opportunities for collaboration and experimentation through paid artist residencies, paying for workshops and talks, and touring exhibitions across Europe/North Africa. We bring emerging artists and mid-career artists and creatives from Europe, North Africa and the diaspora, to engage in reciprocal learning and experience sharing.

Maqam.tv Film screenings (2.5 hours) 

…علَى هَذِهِ الأَرْض مَا يَسْتَحِقُّ الحَياةْ

We have on this land that which makes this life worth living…

“The Untold Revolution: Food Sovereignty in Palestine”, Ameen Nayfeh

2021, color, 26’, Arabic with English Subtitles 

“The Untold Revolution: Food Sovereignty in Palestine” documents the beginning of the journey of the agricultural movement towards food sovereignty in Palestine, from an emancipatory ideological standpoint that seeks to break away from the dependence on the Israeli occupier and the global monopolistic companies. The movement advocates for the adoption of food production systems that are based on natural resources, local production inputs, values of cooperation, and agricultural practices that are culturally, environmentally, socially, economically, and nationally appropriate for the Palestinian context.

Ameen Nayfeh is a writer and director born in Palestine in 1988. He spent his formative years moving between Jordan and Palestine. Despite an early interest in filmmaking, he earned his B.Sc. in nursing from Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem in 2010. In 2012, he graduated with an MFA from the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in Jordan with the goal of telling authentic stories from his region. He has written, produced, and directed several award-winning shorts, and has been freelancing for film and TV production for the past 6 years. His acclaimed works include The Eid Gift (2012), Suspended Time (2014), and The Crossing (2017).

“The Seed Queen of Palestine”, Mariam Shahin

2018, color, 25’, English and Arabic 

In the fields and terraces of the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian woman is leading a quiet revolution. Vivien Sansour is distributing rare, ancient heirloom seeds to Palestinian farmers. Inspired by memories of her grandmother and the delicious food of her childhood, Vivien wants to reintroduce long forgotten Palestinian produce to the tables of people across the West Bank and beyond. And she believes these organic, climate change-resistant seeds are the key to that. She experiments with growing the treasured seeds in her own garden beside the separation wall, under the watchful eye of Israeli soldiers. Popular local herbs and seasonal vegetables flourish as she tends to her garden with expert care and dreams of reviving and celebrating Palestinian food culture.
But can she persuade farmers struggling with the pressures imposed by the Israeli occupation and agri-business to embrace such traditional crop-growing methods? To convince them of the value of the seeds, she sets up a travelling kitchen, taking her seeds and their produce on the road and reminding Palestinians of the power of food to capture the joy and beauty of home.

Mariam Shahin is a Jordan-based writer and documentary filmmaker who authored Palestine: “A Guide, Unheard Voices: Women on Sanctions” and “War in Iraq”, as well as over a hundred articles for major publications such as the Christian Science Monitor, The Nation, Aramco World, The Globe and Mail (Canada) and The Guardian and The Independent in London as well as the Tageszeitung in Berlin.

Since 2006 she has worked as an independent filmmaker on films that have aired on the BBC, PBS, Sky and most prominently on the Al Jazeera Network. Together with her partners at Maysara Films she has produced nearly 80 documentaries about the Arab World and expatriate communities – most of them aired on Television and many available online. 

Stitching Palestine, Carol Mansour

2017, color, 78’, Arabic and English

Twelve Palestinian women sit before us and talk of their life before the Diaspora, of their memories, of their lives and of their identity. Their narratives are connected by the enduring thread of the ancient art of embroidery. Twelve resilient, determined and articulate women from disparate walks of life: lawyers, artists, housewives, activists, architects, and politicians stitch together the story of their homeland, of their dispossession, and of their unwavering determination that justice will prevail. Through their stories, the individual weaves into the 

collective, yet remaining distinctly personal. Twelve women, twelve life-spans, and stories from Palestine; a land whose position was fixed on the map of the world, but is now embroidered on its face.

Carol Mansour is an independent documentary filmmaker. She founded Forward Film Production in 2000. With over 30 years in documentary production, Mansour has covered the world from Sri Lanka to Lebanon to Uzbekistan, receiving international recognition and honour for her films, which reflect her concern for human rights and social justice. Her films tackle issues of forced displacement and refugee rights, migrant workers, mental health, war and memory, child labour, and women’s rights. Carol’s films have won numerous prestigious awards with over one hundred film festival screenings and official selections worldwide. Carol is Lebanese/ Canadian of Palestinian origin.

Maqam.tv is the virtual and physical migratory moving image station that explores dormant topologies for north to central african and central to south asian landscapes, bodies and tales. It’s sort of one contemporary adaptation of the traditional tv channel and it might stand somewhere between the latter and a theater stage -on wheels though. Explore Maqam.tv online: instagram.com/maqam.tv・www.maqamtv.com or get in touch if you’d like to collaborate or host a screening session or two.

19 May

7.30 pm-11pm