UN/BELONGING presents films that share intimate stories from the North African immigrant experience in France. Set in varying temporalities and socio-political contexts, these fiction films reflect recurring and parallel struggles of individuals adapting to new realities in France and North Africa. The leading characters echo each other through scenes of perpetual wandering, in their pursuits for livelihood, safety, freedom, and ultimately, belonging. Despite their best efforts, they are all caught between the clutches of circumstances beyond their control. Yet, in the midst of such unrelenting and indifferent societies, these accounts shed necessary and humanizing light on the lingering realities of alienation and the search for a life worth living.
Dina Amer’s You Resemble Me tells the story of Hasna, a young girl raised on the outskirts of Paris who was torn apart from her sister at an early age and placed in rotating foster homes. Struggling to find her identity and purpose, she finds herself caught in cycles of intergenerational trauma. The audience bears witness to transformations within Hasna, brought on by perpetual disappointments, heartbreaks and institutionalized barriers in her life that lead her on a path of no return.
In Latifa Said’s Unquiet Days, Fadila, a cabaret singer, arrives in a town outside of Marseille in search of refuge during the Algerian civil war (1991-2002). Having fled from Oran due to threats on her life by extremist Islamist groups who opposed her profession, she is faced with feelings of immense loss, solitude and disorientation as she attempts to situate herself in a new reality.
Moumen Smihi’s Si Moh, the Unlucky Man presents a day in the life of a Moroccan migrant worker who has just set foot in France. While roaming the city for work, he encounters other migrants who share his experiences of displacement. This intimate account is rendered through Smihi’s experimental and striking lens alongside an engrossing soundtrack by sound artist Gerard Delassus.
FIlmmaker Dina Amer in Conversation with ArteEast Special Projects Curator Lila Nazemian
Dina Amer is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist. She helped produce the Oscar nominated and Emmy award-winning documentary The Square, where the Egyptian Revolution was chronicled from the frontlines. Growing up between the US and Egypt, her work has focused on sharing nuanced, human stories with a global audience. Previous to her film work, Dina was a celebrated journalist. She was an on-air correspondent for VICE, including The Black Market Series, where she uncovered the human trafficking of Syrian refugees and explored the underground economy of illegal Egypt-Gaza tunnels. Her written work has been published in The New York Times, CNN and the Huffington Post. You Resemble Me is her directorial debut.
UN/BELONGING presents films that share intimate stories from the North African immigrant experience in France. Set in varying temporalities and socio-political contexts, these fiction films reflect recurring and parallel struggles of individuals adapting to new realities in France and North Africa. The leading characters echo each other through scenes of perpetual wandering, in their pursuits for livelihood, safety, freedom, and ultimately, belonging. Despite their best efforts, they are all caught between the clutches of circumstances beyond their control. Yet, in the midst of such unrelenting and indifferent societies, these accounts shed necessary and humanizing light on the lingering realities of alienation and the search for a life worth living.
Dina Amer’s You Resemble Me tells the story of Hasna, a young girl raised on the outskirts of Paris who was torn apart from her sister at an early age and placed in rotating foster homes. Struggling to find her identity and purpose, she finds herself caught in cycles of intergenerational trauma. The audience bears witness to transformations within Hasna, brought on by perpetual disappointments, heartbreaks and institutionalized barriers in her life that lead her on a path of no return.
In Latifa Said’s Unquiet Days, Fadila, a cabaret singer, arrives in a town outside of Marseille in search of refuge during the Algerian civil war (1991-2002). Having fled from Oran due to threats on her life by extremist Islamist groups who opposed her profession, she is faced with feelings of immense loss, solitude and disorientation as she attempts to situate herself in a new reality.
Moumen Smihi’s Si Moh, the Unlucky Man presents a day in the life of a Moroccan migrant worker who has just set foot in France. While roaming the city for work, he encounters other migrants who share his experiences of displacement. This intimate account is rendered through Smihi’s experimental and striking lens alongside an engrossing soundtrack by sound artist Gerard Delassus.
FIlmmaker Dina Amer in Conversation with ArteEast Special Projects Curator Lila Nazemian
Dina Amer is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist. She helped produce the Oscar nominated and Emmy award-winning documentary The Square, where the Egyptian Revolution was chronicled from the frontlines. Growing up between the US and Egypt, her work has focused on sharing nuanced, human stories with a global audience. Previous to her film work, Dina was a celebrated journalist. She was an on-air correspondent for VICE, including The Black Market Series, where she uncovered the human trafficking of Syrian refugees and explored the underground economy of illegal Egypt-Gaza tunnels. Her written work has been published in The New York Times, CNN and the Huffington Post. You Resemble Me is her directorial debut.