SWANA Film Festival

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Cyrah Dardas, "SWANA Film Festival," 2021

SWANA Film Festival

Curated by Christina Hajjar

School of Art Gallery, University of Manitoba presents a free two-week online film festival featuring short films, poetry, and workshops. SWANA Film Festival showcases Southwest Asian and North African creativity on screen to speak to themes of diaspora, dis/connection, agency, and change.

Streaming on the School of Art Gallery, University of Manitoba’s YouTube channel

Presented with the support of the Government of Canada through the Young Canada Works program, Building Careers in Heritage.

Screenings

Available on-demand for one week each on YouTube. Films are closed captioned.

Week 1: Our Longing Extends

Short films on diaspora, identity, and dis/connection

+ poetry by Safia Elhillo

Available Friday, February 5, 7:00 p.m. CT to Thursday, February 11, 11:59 p.m. CT

Immigrant at Home, dir. Sufian Abulohom, 2020, 20 mins, USA

Measures of Distance, dir. Mona Hatoum, 1988, 16 mins, UK

1991, dir. Saif Alsaegh, 2018, 12 mins, USA

Only My Voice, dir. Myriam Rey, 2017, 12 mins, Greece

Week 2: We Didn’t Sleep

Short films on origins, agency, and change

+ poetry by Hala Alyan

Available Friday, February 12, 7:00 p.m. CT to Thursday, February 18, 11:59 p.m. CT

Rosa, dir. Suha Araj, 2020, 23 mins, USA

The Wall, dir. Odette Makhlouf, 2012, 24 mins, Lebanon

Though I Am Silent, I Shake, dir. Sophie Sabet, 2019, 10 mins, Canada

Nora’s Cloth, dir. Issraa Elkogali Häggström, 2021, 8 mins, Sudan/Norway/Sweden

Workshops

Facilitated on Zoom. Open to SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) people. Registration required; space is limited.

Unraveling and Composing the Personal in Video: A Workshop with Sophie Sabet

Saturday, February 6, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. CT

Reading Coffee, Writing the Future: A Workshop with Levon Kafafian

Saturday, February 13, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. CT

Please visit umanitoba.ca/art/swana to learn more and register.