Movie: Severed + Panel Discussion

Severed (produced by Donkeysaddle Projects, +972 Magazine and The Nation, in partnership with Just Vision) tells the story of Mohamad Saleh, an 18-year-old from Gaza who has lived through five major assaults. In those attacks, he lost his home, family members, his best friends, and, at the age of 12, his leg. Mohamad was able to evacuate to Egypt after surviving seven months of genocide and remains in exile there, struggling to piece together the shattered fragments of his life. Through his eyes, the pain and trauma endured by thousands in Gaza are laid bare, alongside their remarkable strength, resilience, and determination to live.

Tickets are sliding scale, and a portion of the proceeds benefits Gaza families.  (If comps are needed, please contact cole@nwfilmforum.org.)

About the panelists/co-sponsors:

Zahyr Lauren [moderator] (they/them), also known as The Artist L.Haz, is the founder of the arts, education, and advocacy company Koro Rules The Sun LLC. Koro Rules The Sun is an art-based company that creates visual work in service of justice movements and has generated thousands in donations for organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights. The company uses creative expression to Activate, Elevate, and Support messages and movements for freedom and global solidarity.

Diana Fakhoury [panelist] is a multidisciplinary designer, artist, and co-founder of Washington for Peace and Justice (WA4PJ). WA4PJ is a Palestinian-led advocacy group working to transform US policy on Palestine through political action in Washington state. While centering Palestinian voices, they build people’s power to advocate for communities locally and in historic Palestine, in pursuit of justice and collective liberation.

Rufina Reyes [panelist] is the director of La Resistencia, a grassroots organization led by undocumented immigrants and people of color who have been oppressed by the immigration enforcement system. The organization supports and engages with people detained at the Northwest Detention Center who organize for their own survival and protest against the detention and deportation regime. La Resistencia is working to end the detention of immigrants and stop deportations.

Mohamad Saleh [filmmaker] is the protagonist and co-producer of Severed. He is 19 years old and lived his entire life in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, until escaping the genocide in May 2024. Mohamad just completed his high school matriculation exams and plans to study nursing. He is an intern at Donkeysaddle Projects. Mohamad will participate via Zoom from Cairo, Egypt.

Jen Marlowe [filmmaker] is the director of Severed, and the founder of Donkeysaddle Projects, an organization that integrates storytelling, political education and activism in the fight to build a world liberated from state violence in all its manifestations. She serves on the boards of Black Lives Matter-WA and the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, and is a founding company member of Dunya Productions-Seattle. Jen is also a Consulting Producer for Just Vision.

Additional Co-sponsors Include:
Multitude Films is an independent production company dedicated to transformative culture change through nonfiction storytelling. They are committed to care at every stage of our work and aim to shift norms across our industry — with a vision of a film industry that values and rewards projects directed and crewed by teams of color, LGBTQ filmmakers, filmmakers with disabilities, working class filmmakers, and women.

Black Lives Matter-WA‘s mission is to dismantle anti-black systems, policies, and outcomes that lead to the oppression, torture, and death of black and brown people. BLM-WA is intentional about building collective power by ensuring that those most affected are not just participants, but the architects of our movement for change. BLM-WA’s leadership prioritizes the inclusion of queer, and trans individuals, as well as those with disabilities, reflecting the communities BLM-WA serves.