Arab Women in the Arts 2023

Measures of Longing

Expired April 15, 2023 3:45 AM
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6 films in package
Kingdom of Strangers
A young man is visited by a memory of an old friend. Together they try to make sense of a past haunted by trauma and a present that makes no sense.
And I Was Left Behind
When I was a child, my grandmother would tell me stories of longing and loss of relatives during desert travels and sea voyages. Now I am an adult her words finally make sense to me.
From Where to Where
In the pieces I store and carry along my many different roads, my dialects may be signs of bruises but reclaimed they form the skin and voice I live in.
Egypt, You Made Me Love You
A short ode to my love of Egypt and my childhood memory, shot on the balconies of Zamalek.
Intro to Memory
An attempt at coming to terms with memories of a lost home.
Echolocation
Oscillating between recorded voice messages and stacked photographs, Echolocation is a layered experiment exploring existence in the aftermath of change.

This set of experimental short films explores the connections between language, memory, and home. While inseparable elements for some, for others they pose the very obstacles preventing them from connecting to their identities. With this in mind, the filmmakers question how language shapes our memories of home and––inversely––how our recollections of the past are sculpted by the mother tongue we did (or did not) learn to speak. The films are poetic in form and content and take us on a journey from the coasts of Egypt to the water wheels of Hama, Syria to an abandoned family home in Baghdad. They beautifully weave images of texts, nature, cityscapes, and personal archives to convey a perpetual longing for a life that could have been.


This program is curated by Nanor Vosgueritchian

An attempt at coming to terms with memories of a lost home.  


About the filmmaker:

Shereen is a queer Syrian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist. She’s self-published two poetry collections and her work has been featured at the New York Museum of Modern Art and the European Independent Film Festival. She also co-hosts the podcast Ethnically Ambiguous on iHeartRadio.

  • Year
    2020
  • Runtime
    3 minutes
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States, Syrian Arab Republic
  • Director
    Shereen Lani Younes
  • Screenwriter
    Shereen Lani Younes
  • Cinematographer
    Shereen Lani Younes
  • Editor
    Shereen Lani Younes
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