Moderated by scholar and curator Róisín Tapponi, this discussion pairs filmmakers Sarah Francis and Mona Benyamin, who both use experimental style and science-fiction tropes to examine the experience of diaspora. In Francis's As Above, So Below, a group of people roam a barren landscape, tracked by the constant presence of a moon-like shape, which the film uses as metaphor to consider how Earth's moon, once symbolizing cyclical time and new beginnings, has been transformed into an object to conquer and colonize. In Benyamin's Moonscape, the filmmaker uses song and image to make connections between the commodification of the moon, and space in general, and the experience of Palestinian displacement and the ongoing occupation. Make sure to check out their films––screening in-person and virtually––before joining us for this conversation.
About the panelists
Mona Benyamin (b.1997) is a Palestinian visual artist and filmmaker based in Haifa. In her works, she explores intergenerational outlooks on hope, trauma, and questions of identity, using humor and irony as political tools of resistance and reflection. Her recent works have been screened—among others—at MoMA, Another Gaze, Sheffield DocFest, and Columbia University.
Sarah Francis grew up and studied in Beirut. The first feature film that she directed and produced Birds of September (2013) premiered in the CPH:dox main competition before screening in numerous festivals and museums (Art of the Real at Lincoln Center (NY), Stedelijk Museum (NL), Doxa (Ca), Dubai Int.Film Festival, DMZ Docs (South Korea) etc.). The film received awards in South Korea, Dublin, Morocco, France, and Sarajevo. Her work also includes the short film Nawal's Rituals for Ashkal Alwan video works in 2014, among others. Her second feature film As Above so below / Kama Fissamaa' Kathalika alal ard' premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2020 and is now screening internationally (Sao Paulo Int. film fest (Brazil), BFI London (U.K), Pravo Ljudski Film fest (Sarajevo), Gabes Int film fest (Tunisia), etc.). She is currently developing her third feature film.
Róisín Tapponi is an Assyrian Iraqi-Irish film curator, programmer, writer, and academic based in London. She is Founder of Habibi Collective, Founder CEO of Shasha Movies, Founder EIC of ART WORK Magazine, and Co-Founder of Independent Iraqi Film Festival (IIFF). She is a writer at Frieze Magazine, and she has recently been awarded the “World-Leading PhD Art History Scholarship” at St. Andrews.
Moderated by scholar and curator Róisín Tapponi, this discussion pairs filmmakers Sarah Francis and Mona Benyamin, who both use experimental style and science-fiction tropes to examine the experience of diaspora. In Francis's As Above, So Below, a group of people roam a barren landscape, tracked by the constant presence of a moon-like shape, which the film uses as metaphor to consider how Earth's moon, once symbolizing cyclical time and new beginnings, has been transformed into an object to conquer and colonize. In Benyamin's Moonscape, the filmmaker uses song and image to make connections between the commodification of the moon, and space in general, and the experience of Palestinian displacement and the ongoing occupation. Make sure to check out their films––screening in-person and virtually––before joining us for this conversation.
About the panelists
Mona Benyamin (b.1997) is a Palestinian visual artist and filmmaker based in Haifa. In her works, she explores intergenerational outlooks on hope, trauma, and questions of identity, using humor and irony as political tools of resistance and reflection. Her recent works have been screened—among others—at MoMA, Another Gaze, Sheffield DocFest, and Columbia University.
Sarah Francis grew up and studied in Beirut. The first feature film that she directed and produced Birds of September (2013) premiered in the CPH:dox main competition before screening in numerous festivals and museums (Art of the Real at Lincoln Center (NY), Stedelijk Museum (NL), Doxa (Ca), Dubai Int.Film Festival, DMZ Docs (South Korea) etc.). The film received awards in South Korea, Dublin, Morocco, France, and Sarajevo. Her work also includes the short film Nawal's Rituals for Ashkal Alwan video works in 2014, among others. Her second feature film As Above so below / Kama Fissamaa' Kathalika alal ard' premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2020 and is now screening internationally (Sao Paulo Int. film fest (Brazil), BFI London (U.K), Pravo Ljudski Film fest (Sarajevo), Gabes Int film fest (Tunisia), etc.). She is currently developing her third feature film.
Róisín Tapponi is an Assyrian Iraqi-Irish film curator, programmer, writer, and academic based in London. She is Founder of Habibi Collective, Founder CEO of Shasha Movies, Founder EIC of ART WORK Magazine, and Co-Founder of Independent Iraqi Film Festival (IIFF). She is a writer at Frieze Magazine, and she has recently been awarded the “World-Leading PhD Art History Scholarship” at St. Andrews.