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
Before I Forget Synopsis: El Captain disappears, one of his disciples takes a journey in the ocean to cut off the internet cable, the water level is rising, an amphibian woman appears at the shore looking for her mother, and the memories of two women in a ward intertwine. Scientist Dr. Sharaf is trying to congregate all of them – the members of the secret society of amphibians – in an attempt to save the world.
Filmmaker Bio
Mariam Mekiwi is a film editor and filmmaker from Alexandria and currently based in Berlin, where she is an associate fellow of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of the Arts in Berlin UdK with her feature film project "EL Markebba EL OMM - mothership". She completed her MFA at the University of the Arts in Hamburg HfBk in 2017. Her fiction film "Abl ma ansa - Before I forget" premiered at the Berlinale in 2018 and was nominated to the FIRST STEPS AWARDS in the same year. Her work circulated in various film festivals and art venues like the Sharjah film platform, Oberhausen film festival, Contemporary Image Collective Cairo CIC, Haifa Independent film festival, Hamburg Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe among others.
- Year2018
- Runtime30 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountryEgypt, Germany
- PremiereBerlinale 2018
- NoteEnglish Subtitles
- DirectorMariam Mekiwi
- ScreenwriterMariam Mekiwi
- ProducerLouly Seif
- Executive ProducerMariam Mekiwi
- FilmmakerMariam Mekiwi
- CastAhmad Raafat Bassiouny, Dalal Beheiri, Azza El Gazar, Lana Hana Ferara, Mohamed Abdel Al, Aly Saleh
- CinematographerStephan Rosche
- EditorMariam Mekiwi, Louly Seif
- AnimatorMohamed Gaber
- Production DesignAnton von Bredow
- Sound DesignMariam Mekiwi, Louly Seif
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
Before I Forget Synopsis: El Captain disappears, one of his disciples takes a journey in the ocean to cut off the internet cable, the water level is rising, an amphibian woman appears at the shore looking for her mother, and the memories of two women in a ward intertwine. Scientist Dr. Sharaf is trying to congregate all of them – the members of the secret society of amphibians – in an attempt to save the world.
Filmmaker Bio
Mariam Mekiwi is a film editor and filmmaker from Alexandria and currently based in Berlin, where she is an associate fellow of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of the Arts in Berlin UdK with her feature film project "EL Markebba EL OMM - mothership". She completed her MFA at the University of the Arts in Hamburg HfBk in 2017. Her fiction film "Abl ma ansa - Before I forget" premiered at the Berlinale in 2018 and was nominated to the FIRST STEPS AWARDS in the same year. Her work circulated in various film festivals and art venues like the Sharjah film platform, Oberhausen film festival, Contemporary Image Collective Cairo CIC, Haifa Independent film festival, Hamburg Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe among others.
- Year2018
- Runtime30 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountryEgypt, Germany
- PremiereBerlinale 2018
- NoteEnglish Subtitles
- DirectorMariam Mekiwi
- ScreenwriterMariam Mekiwi
- ProducerLouly Seif
- Executive ProducerMariam Mekiwi
- FilmmakerMariam Mekiwi
- CastAhmad Raafat Bassiouny, Dalal Beheiri, Azza El Gazar, Lana Hana Ferara, Mohamed Abdel Al, Aly Saleh
- CinematographerStephan Rosche
- EditorMariam Mekiwi, Louly Seif
- AnimatorMohamed Gaber
- Production DesignAnton von Bredow
- Sound DesignMariam Mekiwi, Louly Seif