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Join us for the opening night of the AWAN Festival 2023 with a film screening of Beirut, The Aftermath, which will be followed by an in-person Q&A with the award-winning Director, Fadia Ahmad.
Event Starts at 7pm (Doors open from 6pm)
A month after the August 4th blast, an artist returns to Beirut to help rebuild what she can of her broken city. Retracing her usual itinerary of 10452 steps through the streets of Beirut, she seeks to portray the aftermath of the explosion that shook Lebanon to its core. A journey that once fulfilled the goal of self-discovery now gives both Beirut and the blast’s survivors a voice. Raw testimonials and powerful scenes recount the day everything collapsed all while showing the resilience of a people who don’t want to give up. Individuals from all walks of life finally open up after what seemed like a lifetime of silence.
After the screening and Q&A, there will be an opportunity to purchase one of Fadia’s limited edition prints of photographs of the city and a signed copy of her book ‘Beyrouth Beirut’.
The evening is presented by Arts Canteen in collaboration with Rich Mix.
Supported by Arts Council England.
Director:
Fadia Ahmad is a Lebanese award-winning photographer and filmmaker. Ahmad’s family was exiled from Lebanon due to the ongoing Civil War and settled in Alicante, Spain where Ahmad was born. She later returned to Lebanon in 1991. Fadia is primarily known for her series of portraits and landscapes in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. She is currently based between Beirut and Paris. As an artist, Ahmad offers her only means of preserving that history through the medium of film. Beirut, The Aftermath has been selected for several festivals worldwide and won awards in a variety of categories.
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.