Film screening, panel discussion + Q&A with Director Maysoon Pachachi
The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with the acclaimed writer & director, Maysoon Pachachi, moderated by film programmer Abla Kan.
Ticket includes exclusive pre-screening of Sarah Al-Sarraj short film, Wholeness (+ live Q&A). Click here to find out more.
Doors open from 4.30pm
Wholeness short film + Q&A starts at 5pm
Our River… Our Sky starts at 5.30pm
Director Maysoon Pachachi tells the story of Sara, a single mother and novelist, shocked into silence, at a time of extreme sectarian violence and nightly curfews in Baghdad. She and her neighbours invite us into their everyday lives, as their world fragments and they attempt to renew a fragile sense of hope for a better future.
Dedicated to the youth of Iraq, Maysoon Pachachi’s film offers a glance at the realities of ordinary life in Baghdad, a stark contrast to past Western media portrayals of the 2006 US-led invasion. A raw and powerful display of humanity, Pachachi’s film explores identity and nationalism, and what it means to belong. Sara, a struggling writer and anxious mother played by Darina Al Joundi, is the heart of the community.
Unable to write surrounded by trauma and devastation, she frantically monitors the death toll and uses her literacy skills to help her neighbours translate their pleas to the Americans. Her story is interwoven with those of her neighbours – Dijla who suffers from depression, Mona who lost her children in a past abusive relationship, and a grieving Haider falling into bad company – to name a few.
Through the chaos and destruction, the residents never let their ambitions and desires for the future fade. Yet, they can’t help but contemplate leaving Iraq, and are forced to ask a painful question – who does Baghdad really belong to?
The evening is presented by Arts Canteen in collaboration with Rich Mix.
Supported by Arts Council England.
Film and Q&A moderator:
Abla Kandalaft is a film programmer and journalist with a Syrian and Lebanese background. She co-produced Alternative Cinema on BBC Arabic for 5 years and is currently at The Garden Cinema. She is also editor and programme manager of Mydylarama, a film platform for underrepresented groups and partner of the International Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. She has sat on panels and juries, including at the Leeds International Film Festival and the Human Rights Film Festival, and has worked at Cannes’ Critics’ Week and the BFI London Film Festival.
Arab Women Artists Now (AWAN) is the UK’s only contemporary multi-arts festival dedicated to showcasing Arab women’s artistic work, taking place each March, to coincide with International Women’s Day across venues in London. The festival showcases work in venues across London. Celebrating and promoting high quality female artists from the Arab world and diaspora the cross-arts festival features music, comedy, literature, visual art, theatre and performance, along with a series of workshops and development opportunities for emerging artists.