IN CINEMA
8th biennale /si:n/ in Palestine س : IN PRAISE OF A HIGH SHADOW
Palestinian Programs 1 & 2
Tickets: FREE (suggested donation $7-15)
Sunday, October 20th at 4PM
Based on a poem by Mahmoud Darwich, written in 1982 during the siege of Beirut, a poem written after the Sabra and Shatila massacre, read in Algeria in 1983 before the Palestinian National Council.
Inspired by the tri-continental, anti-imperialist solidarity movements of the 1960s and 80s, at the crossroads of militant, artistic and museological practices that created a very particular form of museum of solidarity, without walls, and more often than not, museums in exile (in support of the people of Chile, Nicaragua, South Africa and of course Palestine), the A.M.Qattan Foundation and Les Instants vidéo launched a call for solidarity. (* Past Disquiet, exhibition curated by Kristine Khouri and Rash Salti)
In 2024, the Palestinian video and performance art biennial /si:n/ (8th edition) is forced into exile. It will be hosted by the 37 edition of the Festival Les Instants Vidéo. The biennale will open on October, 20 in Marseille in Friche la Belle de Mai, made up of 2 Palestinian and 2 international video art programmes, a video installation and a panel discussion. But it will also be traveling the world, welcomed by other Museums of solidarity (for now, in Ethiopia, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Jordan, Lebanon, Canada, USA...).
The Biennial refuses to remain silent, or to be silenced. Nor will it abandon the territory where it was born. It will make a stopover in Ramallah, Jerusalem and Golan Heights.
The Biennial will not leave the stage. ACTION ! Let the images flow, let the pictures speak for themselves! The biennial will be written in the same way as a film, through editing. The images will invite spectators to get in motion to discover other territories. They will offer forms and spaces of resistance to erasure and invisibility.
And for a poetics of relation, we will cultivate the power of light towards artistic and cultural solidarity in the slightest spaces of the biennale.
Program 1:
Changes in the distance
Rawan Joulani, 7 min. Palestine
From the sixth-floor windows of my apartment in Ras Khamis, on the outskirts of Jerusalem's Shuafat refugee camp, I document the surroundings through prolonged observation. Using a zoom lens, I capture and deconstruct the landscape, highlighting the layered complexities of the neighborhood and its social and political dynamics, all without direct interaction.
Gateway to heaven
Bashar Alhroub, 4:45 min. Palestine
In Al-Talibiyyah, a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan. many lacking residency status. Stateless refugees dream of returning home, a dream passed through generations. Alhroub reflects on the contrast between the imagined beauty of Palestine and the harsh reality of life under occupation, while we hear the sound of his breath and footsteps evoke a sense of desperation.
From the hole of needle
Shereen Abed Alkareem, 4:52 min. Palestine
"What if Gaza Were a Film" presents a study of Gaza City's evolving landscape under a 15-year blockade. The project documents and simulates the city through four narrative scenes: "Men in the Sun" on the blockade and Rafah crossing, "Faded Image" on unemployment, "Under Fire" on repeated aggression, and "Security Rejection" on travel difficulties, capturing the city’s unique visual perspective.
Hajar W Zaatar
Eslam Muheisen, 2:34 min. Palestine
Tel Zaatar, a Palestinian camp in Beirut besieged for sixty days during the Lebanese Civil War, symbolizes Palestinian resistance. Its name, meaning "hill of thyme," reflects enduring struggle. Ahmad Zaatar, a fictional figure, embodies the faceless Palestinian victim, symbolizing the persistent cycle of displacement and renewal through each new hero resisting oppression.
Indomie
Hiba Isleem, 3:14 min. Palestine
The film examines the efforts to test and ban harmful Indomie noodles in Gaza before the war. Initially, they were prohibited at the Rafah crossing after confirming their danger. However, post-war, these noodles were sent as aid, raising questions about their use—whether for sustenance, clothing, or medication. The irony is stark: these nutritionally deficient noodles fail to meet Gaza's essential needs.
Ahlam
Yaqeen Yamani, 2:17 min. Palestine
Ahlam is short video work set in a fictional context where in the future historians find archival footage of historical Palestine and they try to locate where it was captured. This work is inspired by the history of Wadi Saleeb in Haifa and the story of the Palestinian poet Ahmad Dahbour.
After laugh
Doha Awar, 4 min. Palestine
Happy colors ending in black, black merging with red, darkness and fear of coexistence, but my face just laughs, my mother's hand stroking my face, but is this good or bad, are there feelings towards the mother? The sound of breaking lights, the imprint of my face on a pillow that feels what is inside me, a false soul, but sleep is the solution.
Penelope
Noor Abed, 6:28 min. Palestine
Inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, the film explores myth’s historical and imaginative roles. The female figure, echoing Penelope, highlights the hero’s absence. By sewing fish, she reconnects with past memories, blending past and present. The film challenges historical reality, presenting myth as a collective dream and public imagination, reflecting an alternative vision of truth.
Ba Leet
Lilly Ann Benson, 7:34 min. Palestine
Starting off by a wall that is destructed by the act of stubbornness and persuasion. An attempt at impossibility, absurdity, Overlooking obstacles in our way to build a path; although the goal may seem unstable, sometimes it’s our attitudes that aren’t. A capsule of unearthing the strength amidst the waves, paving a road non-taken.
Memory of flour
Razan Amleh, 2:31 min. Palestine
Palestinians live and keep their memory as an integral part of their identity besides fighting for their rights and dignity in the face of serious challenges.
TRT: 46’
Program 2:
Loving the Land
Ramz Siam, 7 min. Palestine
Loving the land was created as part of a project which focuses on offering tools of expression for women and children to share, embody and document their stories living under occupation.This piece was the result of an intensive workshop conducted in Al-Amari refugee camp by women from the art field.
The Dust on our way
Abdallah Motan, 5:13 min. Palestine
In the ongoing genocide and the grim practice of detaining martyrs' bodies in refrigerators since 2015, the director delves into the lives of affected families. The film explores the emotional turmoil of mothers who have lost their children to occupation forces. Through intimate portraits, it reveals their profound grief and perpetual questioning amidst the absence or return of their sons.
O-live
Nizar Marzouqa, 2:07 min. Palestine
At the crossroads of life and death, are olives: nostalgic, warm but contentious, and stubborn. How can you psychologically help a child in a disaster zone? - “You make them a Labaneh sandwich”, answered Dr Ivona Amleh, a Croatian-Palestinian psychiatrist, and my teacher.
From Akka to Gaza
Manal Mahamid, 4:16 min. Palestine
"From Akka to Gaza" metaphorically depicts Palestinian resistance as mythical creatures shattering Zionist-imposed barriers and apartheid walls. The film captures the Palestinians' confrontations, challenges, and resilience in their pursuit of decolonizing their landscape and reclaiming their ancestral land, symbolizing a journey of defiance and unwavering spirit.
The melancholy of this useless afternoon: chapter one
Dina Mimi, 7 min. Palestine
This film deconstructs small, hidden stories relayed through sewers and swallowed capsules, transforming them into letters. It explores the true tale of a man evading capture for twenty years, the smuggling of birds from Jordan to Palestine, and the journey of "Twa-twa" birds from China to Suriname and the Netherlands. It questions how these routes symbolize decolonization or revenge.
Qisma
Sharon Rose, 4:47 min. Palestine
Qisma delves into perceptual reality, exploring an intermediate space beyond time where material, essence, and transcendence intersect. It questions the nature of control over the material world, the exploration beyond the tangible, and the fate of souls. What happens when the dead rise? Can essence and personality transcend and interact with the living? How do we reshape purpose amidst unseen truths and unknown realms?
Let there be light
Mohamed Harb, 5:31 min. Palestine
In a land shrouded by the absence of light, a journey in search of identity. a struggle to reconcile with the sense of self in the reality of Gaza. a visual journey of light and darkness, evoking feelings of displacement and longing for visibility in a place that feels disconnected from the self.
Wadi Al-Salib: Two Minutes
Bushra Barghouthi, 3:51 min. Palestine
Every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, “Israel” famously comes to a stop when the siren is sounded for two minutes. Even highway cars stop, and drivers and passengers get out to the streets, marking the two minutes. Wadi Al-Salib: Two Minutes is based on the sound of the siren, yet on another comparison.
Mariam
Linda Katbeh, 5:50 min. Palestine
Since waking from a dream about a girl named Maryam, I’ve felt a profound connection. Her presence drove me to explore locations from the dream with my camera, seeking her out. Despite only finding elusive clues, I remain determined to uncover the truth about Maryam, refusing to abandon my quest.
TRT: 46’
Sound Installation (on loop)
Behind the Horizon
Toni Mestrovic, 2024, 2 min. Croatia
The video image shows a view towards the horizon from the Limassol promenade. The seemingly beautiful scene does not reveal what lies behind. The sound depicts pro- Palestinian demonstrations in Limassol, Cyprus, 375 kilometers away from Gaza, which is situated behind the horizon. Hidden from sight, as if nothing is happening, the Western world remains silent.
/si:n/ video art and performance biennale was co-founded in 2009 by A.M. Qattan Foundation and Les Instants Vidéo, supported by a group of cultural organizations in Palestine. First event of this kind in Palestine, the biennale travels to several cities (Ramallah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza...) and presents Palestinian and international art works.
