Movie: Lyd
2024-08-18 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
Lyd is a feature-length, speculative documentary that follows the rise and fall of Lyd (alternatively Lod, as it is now called), a 5,000-year-old metropolis that was a bustling Palestinian town, until it was taken over by the state of Israel. As the film unfolds, residents create a tapestry of the Palestinian experience of this city and exemplify the trauma left by the 1948 massacre and expulsion. Vivid animations envision an alternate reality where the same people live free from the trauma of the past and the violence of the present. Using never-before-seen archival footage of Israeli soldiers who carried out the massacre and expulsion, the personified city explains that these events were so devastating that they fractured reality, and now there are two Lyds — one occupied and one free. As the film cuts between fantastical and documentary realities, it ultimately leaves the viewer questioning which future should prevail.
Lyd dares to ask the question: what would the city be like had the Israeli occupation of Lyd never happened?

Movie: Blink Twice
2024-08-29 15:45 - 17:30, 2024-08-29 19:00 - 21:00, 2024-08-30 16:15 - 18:15, 2024-08-30 19:00 - 21:00, 2024-08-31 13:15 - 15:30, 2024-08-31 16:15 - 18:15, 2024-08-31 19:00 - 21:00 | SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N,, Seattle, WA, 98109, United States
With an ensemble cast including Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat (Iraqi-American actress), Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, Kyle MacLachlan and Geena Davis, Blink Twice is a wild new psychological thriller directed by Zoë Kravitz.
Content Advisory: mature themes and depictions of violence – including sexual violence.

Virtual Movie Screenings: Every Saturday with Palestine Museum US
2024-09-07 09:00 - 11:00, 2024-10-05 09:00 - 11:00, 2024-12-07 09:00 - 11:00, 2024-12-14 09:00 - 11:00, 2024-12-21 09:00 - 11:00, 2024-12-28 09:00 - 11:00, 2025-01-04 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Check website: https://www.palestinemuseum.us/events for current showings and for registration links!
Often the screening ends with a Q&A with the director!

SUDANESE FILM GROUP, THEN AND NOW: Part 1
2024-09-16 - 2024-09-26 | Virtual
Join us for September’s Arab Film Series online program: SUDANESE FILM GROUP, THEN AND NOW
Part 1: Sept 16-26, 2025
Part 2: Nov 11-21, 2024
RSVP: arabfilmseries.org
FREE / $5 suggested donation
Available Worldwide

Founded in April 1989 by Ibrahim Shaddad, Eltayeb Mahdi, and Suliman Elnour, just months before Omar Albashir’s military coup, the Sudanese Film Group (SFG) is a collective of filmmakers with a goal to maintain and develop Sudanese cinema. After returning from their film studies abroad, the members spread their love of cinema through film productions, mobile screenings, and publications. Producing over forty films, the group aspired for freedom of expression and the amplifying of local narratives.

This two-part program includes a selection of the Sudanese Film Group’s experimental films using 35mm and 16mm reels, which were digitally restored by Arsenal Berlin in 2018, in an effort to preserve this part of cinematic history. The program also includes a more recent film by Eltayeb Mahdi that documents the Sudanese revolution in 2019.

Screening Online: ON LANDSCAPES, RUINS AND PATTERNS OF REMEMBERING Curated by: Fawz Kabra
2024-09-19 - 2024-09-24 | Virtual
Screening Online: Sept. 19 – 24, 2024
RSVP: artearchive.org
FREE / $5 suggested donation
ON LANDSCAPES, RUINS AND PATTERNS OF REMEMBERING is a program of video works that unfold a politics of image-making, reviewing and recounting social and cultural histories as they are explored through contemporary frameworks. The program is prompted by a work from the ArteArchive—Toukan’s performance video, Remind me to Remember to Forget (2006), after Mahmoud Darwish’s 1982 prose poem, “Memory for Forgetfulness.” The artist proposes to reverse the act of writing and the will to remember, consequently dispersing the written word and suspending it in memory and reimagination.
Revisiting Toukan’s video eighteen years later, in a global context that remains anxious with war and impending invasions, Remind me to Remember to Forget is revisited in conversation with works by Alsharif, Collins, Hopinka, Jacir, and Namy. Through minimalist experiments and lyrical narratives the works address profound violences of colonial erasure of land and people, the legacies of exile and dispersion, and our relationship to objects and images when only image and replica remain.

In their distinct structural explorations of cycles and repetitions, these works deal with the promises and devastating blunders of modernity. They connect to land, time, and space in a contemporary world charged with a renewed authoritarian tendency that swings from guise and symbolism to blatant and annihilating power. Between lived experiences and replicated environments, these works present a receding natural world, real and imagined sites, and archives that render the architectures of a modern time swept up in a coup of capitalist developments and techno-autocratic fascist regimes.

ON LANDSCAPES, RUINS AND PATTERNS OF REMEMBERING is co-presented with e-flux.

Virtual Movie: Aida Returns
2024-09-27
A poignant, sometimes sad, sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd story of a multiple journey: the journey of loss as the director’s mother Aida struggled with losing herself to Alzheimer’s disease, but finding solace in her repeated “returning” to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest and be herself once more.

Virtual Movie: Homeland: Iraq Year Zero
2024-09-27 | Virtual
In February 2002 – about a year before the U.S. invasion – Iraqi filmmaker Abbas Fahdel traveled home from France to capture everyday life as his country prepared for war. He concentrated on family and friends, including his 12-year-old nephew, Haider, as they went about their daily lives, which had come to include planning for shortages of food, water and power. No strangers to war, the Iraqis thought they understood what was coming, and could even manage to be grimly humorous about what they felt would likely be a major and lengthy inconvenience. And then, the war began.

When Fahdel resumed filming in 2003, two weeks after the invasion, daily activities have come to a near standstill, the city is overrun with foreign soldiers, and many areas of Baghdad had been closed off to ordinary citizens. Iraqis endure, seemingly as unwitting as Americans themselves about what further tragedy awaits. Fahdel’s epic yet intimate film paints a compelling portrait of people struggling to survive while their civilization, dating back to ancient times, is destroyed around them.

“Walled Off” Film Screening
2024-10-20 16:00 - 18:00 | The Crocodile, 2505 1st Ave, Seattle, WA, 98033, United States
Come hear from Watermelon Pictures execs and storytellers, and watch a screening of acclaimed documentary “Walled Off.”
About this Event
Join us for a screening of “Walled Off.” The film explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of mysterious British street artist Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem. The film highlights the importance of creative resistance as a form of protest and challenges the mainstream media’s narrative of the occupation.

AFMI: Arab Film Fest
2024-10-24

AFMI: Film Festival (some virtual)
2024-10-24 - 2024-11-03 | Virtual
So many movies available for streaming through November 3rd: Back to Alexandria, Baghdad Messi, Aida Returns, Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano and more!
Click here to see what other films are available to stream!
There are collections of film shorts! Documentaries! Horror flicks! Something for everyone!
https://watch.eventive.org/arabfilm2024

Palestine Cinema Days: 2024
2024-11-02 19:30 - 21:30 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
A poignant, sometimes sad, sometimes painful, sometimes humorous, often absurd story of a multiple journey: the journey of loss as the directors mother Aida struggled with losing herself to Alzheimers disease, but finding solace in her repeated returning to the Yafa and Palestine of her youth; the journey of the loss of a parent; and the ultimate return journey back to Yafa where Aida would finally find rest and be herself once more.
Presented as a part of Palestine Cinema Days 2024
On the somber anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, observed on November 2nd, and in an effort to amplify Palestinian voices, we are screening Aida Returns directed by Carol Mansour at 7:30 p.m. at Northwest Film Forum. The screening is free of charge.
(Carol Mansour, Canada, Lebanon, United States, 2024, 1hour 12min, in Arabic, English, and French with English subtitles)

AFMI: Film Festival (some virtual)
2024-11-06 - 2024-11-15 | Virtual
Choose the best option for you:

VIP FESTIVAL PASS – $220 (regular $250)
for the most passionate Arab cinema lover
FESTIVAL PASS – $150 (regular $180)
for the fan who wants to watch as many movies as possible
VIRTUAL PASS – $60 (regular $80)
for the cinephile who is not in the Bay Area (or prefers streaming a limited program)

If you want to enjoy all the festival has to offer, this is the best deal.
Check out all the details here.

Streaming: Then and Now (curated by Sudanese Film Group)
2024-11-11 - 2024-11-21 | Virtual
This two-part program includes a selection of the Sudanese Film Group’s experimental films using 35mm and 16mm reels, which were digitally restored by Arsenal Berlin in 2018, in an effort to preserve this part of cinematic history. The program also includes a more recent film by Eltayeb Mahdi that documents the Sudanese revolution in 2019.

Free virtual screening of the documentary film 'Sacrificing Liberty'
2024-11-24 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EST; 18:00 Europe; 19:00 Palestine; 17:00 UK; running time, 60 minutes each part, English language.
Please click here to watch the film trailer.
Please click here to register to view the film.
SYNOPSIS
“Sacrificing Liberty” is a powerful documentary directed by Matthew Skow that examines the tragic attack on the USS Liberty by Israeli forces on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War. The film provides a detailed account of the incident, which resulted in the deaths of 34 American crew members and injuries to 174 others. Through interviews with survivors and experts, the documentary uncovers the subsequent cover-up by the U.S. government and highlights the enduring quest for justice and recognition by the survivors. It is a poignant exploration of a dark chapter in American naval history and the resilience of those who lived through it.

Watermelon Pictures: Life Is Beautiful (streaming)
2024-11-26 - 2024-12-01 | Virtual
New Release from Watermelon Pictures:
Exiled above the arctic circle in Norway and refusing to accept the boundaries imposed by international politics & rigid bureaucracy, Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly insists on telling heartfelt stories from his hometown Gaza. Despite his statelessness and having only limited connection to his family abroad, he manages to channel support from friends and his own creativity, adhering to his motto LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. And throughout it all, he fights for his rights with integrity, community, and a smile for the world.
Check out the trailer here: https://youtu.be/nqTlHyjR1xA
Screening on major digital platforms on 11/26!
https://www.watermelonpictures.com/films/life-is-beautiful-a-letter-to-gaza

Walled Off: Exclusive Screening
2024-12-08 15:00 - 18:00 | Cherry Street Village, 720 25th Avenue, Seattle, WA, United States
Join us for a Special Screening of the film “Walled Off.” Witness this powerful documentary in person with fellow film enthusiasts. Immerse yourself in the thought-provoking storyline and visually stunning cinematography. This event promises to be a memorable experience for all attendees. Don’t miss out on this Exclusive Screening!

"5 Broken Cameras" Film Screening
2025-01-12 10:30 - 12:30 | University – Seattle Public Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States
“5 Broken Cameras” Film Screening
Sunday, January 12, 2025·10:30am – 12:30pm

University Branch – The Seattle Public Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA

Join JVP Seattle for a screening and discussion of ‘5 Broken Cameras’, part of an ongoing film series. Beginning in 2005, filmmaker Emad Burnet records his village’s resistance to the encroachment of Israeli settlements. Structured around the violent destruction of each one of Burnat’s cameras, the filmmakers’ collaboration follows one family’s evolution over five years of village turmoil. Register at bit.ly/jvpscreening

Marketing the Occupation: Part Three - The Social Media Battleground in a Time of War
2025-01-19 12:00 - 15:00 | Virtual
Israel and pro-Israel advocacy groups have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on social media messaging to build “Brand Israel” and sway U.S. public opinion. Such campaigns have influenced elections, inserted falsehoods into news cycles, and intimated decision-makers into funding weapons for Israel. But there is resistance. For example, Wikipedia has deemed the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) “a generally unreliable source” on the war in Gaza. Students assert their First Amendment rights, protesting on campuses, advocating for boycotts, and sharing news directly from Gaza. What are the dimensions of this social media battle for the “hearts and minds” of the American public?

Watch the curated videos for free at your convenience. | Join the Q&A discussion with:
Omar Zahzah – Assistant Professor, AMED Studies, San Francisco State University
Katie Halper – Host, “The Katie Halper Show” (WBAI); Co-Host, “Useful Idiots”
Bryce Greene – FAIR Student Organizer, Indiana University Bloomington
Maya Berry – (Moderator) Executive Director, Arab American Institute

Register now: Tinyurl.com/VFHL-January2025
Watch the trailer: https://tinyurl.com/VFHL-TrailerJanuary2025
