Twin Cities Arab Film Festival 2023

Archives and Secrets (Shorts Segment)

Expired October 2, 2023 5:00 AM
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Archives allow us to glimpse the past, and they provide integral information for contemporary viewers and researchers to understand and convey stories that might not otherwise be available. But fragments from the past also provide rich commentary on our present, as they interrupt our view of the world, often reshaping and redefining our most deeply rooted ideas. The short films in this segment stitch together archives and secrets––in the form of documents, images, and plants––sharing both personal and collective memories from the past to reimagine the present and future.

A tattoo ritual and hookah session memorializes a pre-war flower shop. After seeing its storefront in archival footage of the Lebanese Civil War, a first-generation daughter seeks information and connection to place. Scenes of 1976 Beirut are paired with today’s modern landscape, while roses are etched and coconut coals burn in a snowy diasporic setting.

  • Year
    2023
  • Runtime
    7 minutes
  • Language
    English, Arabic
  • Country
    Canada
  • Subtitle Language
    English
  • Director
    Christina Hajjar
  • Cast
    Dasha Savchenko, Nada Hajjar
  • Production Design
    Christina Hajjar
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