Disrupted Pasts, Displaced Futures is a selection of moving image works by contemporary artists from the Middle East and North Africa, blending science fiction, arabfuturism, and magic realism to tackle themes of displacement, migration, and climate crisis. Responding to an unstable present through the lens of the future, these alternate realities resist hegemonic narratives and open a space where new possibilities emerge. Featured Artists: Meriem Bennani, Mariam Mekiwi and Larissa Sansour
Don't miss the livestream discussion with filmmakers Mariam Mekiwi and Larissa Sansour, moderated by ArteEast’s film curator Ginou Choueiri, on Saturday, July 24th, at 12.30 pm EDT.
Films available worldwide from July 24 at 12.00 pm EDT - July 27 at 11:59pm EDT
Party on the CAPS synopsis: In a world where teleportation has replaced planes, a wacky crocodile named Fiona tells of life on the CAPS: an island-turned-refugee-camp for illegal immigrants caught mid-teleportation. Themes of displacement, biotechnology and privacy are evoked through the augmented reality of a raucous birthday party in the Moroccan quarter of the CAPS. Mixing the languages of reality TV, advertising, documentary and high-end commercial aesthetics, Bennani explores the potential of storytelling through magical realism and humour.
Filmmaker Bio
Meriem Bennani (b. 1988 in Rabat, Morocco) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Juxtaposing and mixing the language of reality TV, documentaries, phone footage, animation, and high production aesthetics, she explores the potential of storytelling while amplifying reality through a strategy of magical realism and humour.
She has been developing a shape-shifting practice of films, sculptures and immersive installations, composed with a subtle agility to question our contemporary society and its fractured identities, gender issues and ubiquitous dominance of digital technologies. Bennani’s work has been shown at the Whitney Biennale, MoMA PS1, Art Dubai, The Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Public Art Fund, CLEARING and The Kitchen in New York.
Her animated series, 2 Lizards, a collaboration with director Orian Barki, premiered on Instagram during Spring 2020 and was described by The New York Times as “hypnotic…deploying a blend of documentary structure and animation surrealism…both poignantly grounded in actual events and also soothingly fantastical” and its animated protagonists “art stars.” (Jon Caramanica, April 2020)
Party On the CAPS provided courtesy of C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels
- Year2018
- Runtime26 minutes
- LanguageEnglish, Moroccan Darija
- CountryMorocco
- NoteEnglish Subtitles
- DirectorMeriem Bennani
Disrupted Pasts, Displaced Futures is a selection of moving image works by contemporary artists from the Middle East and North Africa, blending science fiction, arabfuturism, and magic realism to tackle themes of displacement, migration, and climate crisis. Responding to an unstable present through the lens of the future, these alternate realities resist hegemonic narratives and open a space where new possibilities emerge. Featured Artists: Meriem Bennani, Mariam Mekiwi and Larissa Sansour
Don't miss the livestream discussion with filmmakers Mariam Mekiwi and Larissa Sansour, moderated by ArteEast’s film curator Ginou Choueiri, on Saturday, July 24th, at 12.30 pm EDT.
Films available worldwide from July 24 at 12.00 pm EDT - July 27 at 11:59pm EDT
Party on the CAPS synopsis: In a world where teleportation has replaced planes, a wacky crocodile named Fiona tells of life on the CAPS: an island-turned-refugee-camp for illegal immigrants caught mid-teleportation. Themes of displacement, biotechnology and privacy are evoked through the augmented reality of a raucous birthday party in the Moroccan quarter of the CAPS. Mixing the languages of reality TV, advertising, documentary and high-end commercial aesthetics, Bennani explores the potential of storytelling through magical realism and humour.
Filmmaker Bio
Meriem Bennani (b. 1988 in Rabat, Morocco) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Juxtaposing and mixing the language of reality TV, documentaries, phone footage, animation, and high production aesthetics, she explores the potential of storytelling while amplifying reality through a strategy of magical realism and humour.
She has been developing a shape-shifting practice of films, sculptures and immersive installations, composed with a subtle agility to question our contemporary society and its fractured identities, gender issues and ubiquitous dominance of digital technologies. Bennani’s work has been shown at the Whitney Biennale, MoMA PS1, Art Dubai, The Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Public Art Fund, CLEARING and The Kitchen in New York.
Her animated series, 2 Lizards, a collaboration with director Orian Barki, premiered on Instagram during Spring 2020 and was described by The New York Times as “hypnotic…deploying a blend of documentary structure and animation surrealism…both poignantly grounded in actual events and also soothingly fantastical” and its animated protagonists “art stars.” (Jon Caramanica, April 2020)
Party On the CAPS provided courtesy of C L E A R I N G, New York / Brussels
- Year2018
- Runtime26 minutes
- LanguageEnglish, Moroccan Darija
- CountryMorocco
- NoteEnglish Subtitles
- DirectorMeriem Bennani