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Once again, man, in search of land, gave the plague to his fellow man in the folds of his offerings.
– Yamen Manai
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Featured artist: Anuar Khalifi
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Hey *|FNAME|*,
Ramadan Kareem! Aside from the days getting a little longer, March always seems to linger more than other months. So we decided to bring you two digests this month – this and another one in two weeks that will have you covered for April.
Below you'll find a great list of film recommendations, things to read, attend, and treat your mind and eyes with. This month's mixtape was compiled by one of the oldest afikra community members DJ amen RA (aka Ramy Abou El Oyoun). He introduces us to fantastic Egyptians sounds and artists. The first half of the playlist focuses on the instrumental side of these producers: "You can really get a feel for what the artists are trying to convey without a word being spoken." In the second half, Ramy features some of his favorite artists and each has a unique voice and a sound of their own: "Try to notice how the artists try to interpret themselves to you through the beats they choose."
As for the art of the month, we've featured the vibrant work of the ultra-talented, self-taught Moroccan painter Anuar Khalifi. As the third line gallery puts it: through the layers in his work, Khalifi "explores a wide range of themes such as identity, duality, diaspora, orientalism, colonialism, extremism, and consumerist society."
Always in solidarity,
The afikra | عفكرة Team
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Click on the tape to listen to this month's mixtape by DJ amen RA (aka Ramy Abou El Oyoun)
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MAR 15th
BLAST Album Release
Electro-Arab music project BLAST بلاست – formed by Queer Falafel, Anthony Kmeid, Mad Monkey and Pako Serrano – release their first album To space / ع الفضا today with Atypeek Music.
MAR 15th
Tarek Yamani Trio performs in Barcelona at the Jamboree Jazz Club
The pianist will perform a session titled "Conceptions of Afro-Arabic Jazz" which consists of a piano-trio exploration of Classical Arabic music within the framework of African-American jazz.
MAR 16th & 23rd
Ramadan Nights of Shared Traditions at Jameel Arts Center, 9pm - Midnight
Jameel Arts Center hosts two "Ramadan Nights" open to visitors of all ages. The first will focus on wellness and mindfulness, and the second on crafting and making.
MAR 20th
Zawya Shorts VIII in Cairo until APR 7
The 8th edition of Zawya Shorts runs from Mar 20th - Apr 7th. Follow Zany Cinema on instagram to keep see the announced programs when they're released.
MAR 20th
Culture Through Soft Power at the National Pavilion UAE from 9pm
An evening exploring the influence of culture through soft power initiatives with speakers Erfan Tousi, Lalia Binbrek, Namal Siddiqui, and Shamma Al Bastaki. Chaired by Sultan Sooud al Qassemi.
MAR 22nd
Adnan Joubran Trio at the Festival Passworld in Northern France
The oud player and composer performs alongside Habib Meftah and Valentin Mussou at the festival in Val d'Oise.
MAR 22nd
Exhibition: Performing Colonial Toxicity at the Mosaic Rooms in London
An expansive research project put together by architectural historian & exhibition maker Samia Henni is an archival survey exhibition documenting France's secret nuclear programme in Algeria during and after the Algerian revolution.
MAR 22nd
Open call for SWANA artists for AFMI's 4th Arab Women in the Arts Showcase
The Arab Film and Media Institute is looking for visual art from SWANA women and non-binary artists to submit under the theme of LAND AND SOIL. For the "Banat el Hara" exhibition taking place in NY, SF and online.
Archive ...need a better name
Palestine Nexus: The Gaza Collection
Download and browse through a collection of hundreds of documents relating to Gaza's social, political and economic history — mostly from the 1920s to the 1950s. Palestine Nexus acquired these documents from Gaza's only antique dealer, Saleem Elrayes.
Read
The Celebrated Arab Photographer Who Redefined Portraiture
A quick read on Huck Magazine about Van Leo, an Armenian-Egyptian photographer who rose to fame as one of the top studio photographers of the Arab world between the 40s and 60s.
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FREINDLY NERD:
Bootheina Majoul
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What are you reading right now?
How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division by Turkish writer Elif Shafak. It is a book about our overwhelming reality – what she describes as "the age of contagious anxiety".
Your favorite Arabic songs
All Abdel Halim [Hafez] and [Mohammed] Abdel Wahab songs are eternal. They were pioneers in introducing new instruments to Arabic music, and their songs travelled and remained.
Your favorite saying in Arabic
الحياة حلوة بس نفهمهـا
al Haya helwa bas nefhamha (it might have even been taken from Farid al-Atrash's song). It means that life is sweet and easy, but we have a compulsive tendency to complicate it.
Your favorite afikra episode
I think inviting Eric Calderwood was a great idea. He is an amazing scholar, and has a unique approach to history. His book about the history of al-Andalus is an important addition to literature.
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Inshallah A Boy (2024)
After Nawal's (Mouna Hawa) husband dies, she pretends to be pregnant with a son to prevent her brother in law from being able to inherit their home.
Taking a family member's own complex legal situation as inspiration, Director Amjad al Rasheed's film "Inshallah A Boy" explores how misogyny and patriarchy are baked into Jordanian law and limit the freedom of women in Jordan.
This was Jordan's Official Entry for Best International Film at the Academy Awards.
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Aida Returns (2023)
Carol Mansour's 2019 documentary film is one about family, loss, memory and journeys of all kinds. A journey of mourning and a journey of return to Yafa and Palestine.
Mansour's mother, Aida, left Yafa in 1948 for Beirut and then Montreal. She loses all her memories but those from her childhood in Yafa to advanced Alzheimer's. After her death, her daughter decides to take her mother back to Yafa where she can finally be laid to rest.
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106K followers
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738
likes
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afikra_
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Talking About Trees (الحديث عن الأشجار) is a 2019 documentary directed by Suhaib Gasmelbari that follows retired filmmakers Ibrahim Shada, Manar Al Hilo, Suleiman Mohamed Ibrahim and Altayeb Mahdi — members of the Sudanese Film Group — “whose infectious enthusiasm for cinema is a joy to behold”.
The film follows these men as they work to reopen an outdoor cinema in Omdurman, restore old film stock and celebrate Sudanese film history. This is a documentary about cinema, modern Sudanese history and the powerful experiences of these men as oppositional artists. And as a film critic from Variety Magazine put it, the film “speaks to all of us about what cinema means to us.” It won the Berlinale Best Documentary Award in 2019.
الحديث عن الأشجار وثائقي من إنتاج سنة ٢٠١٩، أخرجه السينمائي السوداني صهيب قاسم الباري، يحكي قصة مجموعة من صانعي الأفلام المتقاعدين مثل ابراهيم شداد ومنار الحلو وسليمان محمد إبراهيم والطيب مهدي - مجموعة من صناع الأفلام السودانيين - الذين يملأهم الشغف للسينما. يتابع الفيلم سعي هؤلاء الرجال لإعادة إفتتاح سينما في الهواء الطلق في أم درمان، وجهودهم لترميم مجموعة قديمة من الأفلام التي تحكي عن تاريخ السينما في السودان.
إنه فيلم وثائقي عن السينما والتاريخ السوداني الحديث والتجربة الغنية لهؤلاء الرجال كفانين معارضين. والفيلم، كما وصفه النقاد في عدة مجلات متخصصة، “يحكي لنا جميعا ماذا تعني السينما لكل منا “. وقد فاز سنة ٢٠١٩ بجائزة مهرجان برلين السينمائي لأفضل فيلم وثائقي
Sources:
BFI
Doha Film Institute
IMBD
Image sources:
BFI
IMDB
IDFA institute
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"Football is Love"
From my ongoing series "Hess L'bled" where I explore my birth country and capture moments that really resonate with me.This photograph was shot in Casablanca, a neighborhood called Sidi Moumen. An area I was advised numerous times not to visit due to safety reasons etc. It sparked my interest regardless, I wanted to know for myself what was so "unsafe" about Sidi Moumen. I was met with kindness from young children and shyness from the older generation because of my camera. I walked through the neighborhood reluctant to wind my camera and start shooting, I was looking for some sort of interaction with the locals. It wasn't until I came across two young boys sitting in front of their home where I asked "where do you guys normally play foot?" to which they respond "everywhere". I asked if they could show me their favorite pitch. Minutes later we arrived at this unrealistic field that I completely fell in love with. With a game already underway, I was astonished at how it looked like the ground opened and a magical field appeared. I stood there for a while, noticing the sun slowly getting covered by grey clouds. I finally winded my camera and began to shoot. Twelve shots later, I thanked the young lads for their time and promised I'd visit again soon.
Jinane Ennasri
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Write for us! If you have a story to share or a topic you want to delve into, we want to know about it. Email us at [email protected] to bring your curiosity (or expertise) to life.
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Sah El Nawm
Mai J Abbassi reminsces about Syrian comedy series — Sah El Nawm — from huddling round windows to catch the newest episodes to its satirical undertones and the love triangle at its heart.
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XXX - One of the Monuments
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