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Co-presented by the Arab American National Museum
This is a selection of short films originally programmed for the 27th Arab Film Festival in 2023. While they were originally meant to reside in separate programs with different themes, together as one program they still compliment each other well, exploring stories of diasporic Arab life across the United States and Canada. Each filmmaker's individual approach to this topic and their unique styles each bring something different to the table.
BEZUNA explores the complexities of fleeing a war-zone through the analysis of peripheral details. Through interweaving different narratives, the film presents the raw and broken feelings of a child and a cat whose lives will never be the same.
Festivals & Awards: Athens International Film and Video Festival - Jury Special Mention
About the Filmmaker:
Saif Alsaegh is a United States-based filmmaker from Baghdad. Much of Saif’s work deals with the contrast between the landscape of his youth in Baghdad growing up as part of the indigenous Chaldean minority in the nineties and early 2000s, and the U.S. landscape where he currently lives. His films have screened in festivals and venues including Cinéma du Réel, Kurzfilm Hamburg, Kassel Dokfest, Aesthetica Short Film Festival, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Gene Siskel Film Center. He received his MFA in film from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
- Year2023
- Runtime8 minutes
- LanguageArabic, English
- CountryUnited States
- GenreExperimental Documentary
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorSaif Alsaegh
Co-presented by the Arab American National Museum
This is a selection of short films originally programmed for the 27th Arab Film Festival in 2023. While they were originally meant to reside in separate programs with different themes, together as one program they still compliment each other well, exploring stories of diasporic Arab life across the United States and Canada. Each filmmaker's individual approach to this topic and their unique styles each bring something different to the table.
BEZUNA explores the complexities of fleeing a war-zone through the analysis of peripheral details. Through interweaving different narratives, the film presents the raw and broken feelings of a child and a cat whose lives will never be the same.
Festivals & Awards: Athens International Film and Video Festival - Jury Special Mention
About the Filmmaker:
Saif Alsaegh is a United States-based filmmaker from Baghdad. Much of Saif’s work deals with the contrast between the landscape of his youth in Baghdad growing up as part of the indigenous Chaldean minority in the nineties and early 2000s, and the U.S. landscape where he currently lives. His films have screened in festivals and venues including Cinéma du Réel, Kurzfilm Hamburg, Kassel Dokfest, Aesthetica Short Film Festival, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Gene Siskel Film Center. He received his MFA in film from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
- Year2023
- Runtime8 minutes
- LanguageArabic, English
- CountryUnited States
- GenreExperimental Documentary
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorSaif Alsaegh