ArabishWay

26th Arab Film Festival Shorts: Queer Lens
2022-11-12 - 2022-11-19 | Virtual
AFMI’s annual Queer Lens program celebrates the multi-dimensional formations of Arab queerness in stories that so urgently need to be told, especially in today’s polarized media climate that leaves issues of visibility lost in the haze, or, worse: cast in a one-size-fits-all “Western Queer Narrative” that ignores the many complexities and nuances faced by LGBTQ+ persons in the Arab World and beyond.
This year’s program theme is Diaspora & Displacement and features 5 award-winning short films that highlight the experiences of Queer Arabs around the globe. The characters in these stories all find themselves at the intersection of their identities. Some must reconcile the reality of their sexuality with a family who loves but does not understand, others work towards a life lived authentically in a society that does not accept them and a few explore leaving a place that is not safe even though it means letting go of those they care about. In this collection, audiences will find stories that may be unique in their details but are deeply relatable at their core and despite the difficulties, celebrate honesty and love.
Join us after the screening for Arab + Queer + Film: between here and there a conversation with four of the filmmakers in the Queer Lens program.
This program includes the following films:
Habib & the Thief (Sweden) dir. Naures Sager
The Window (Lebanon) dir. Sarah Kaskas
Faraway (Canada) dir. Aziz Zoromba
Dress Up (United States) dir. Karina Dandashi
Warsha (Lebanon) dir. Dania Bdeir

Screening of the documentary film "Blanche's Homeland," directed by Maryse Gargour
2022-11-12 09:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Saturday November 12, 2022 – 12:00 Noon US EST; 7:00 PM Palestine Time.
Screening of the documentary film “Blanche’s Homeland,” directed by Maryse Gargour
30 Minutes; English subtitles; post-screening Q&A and discussion with audience.
Please click here to register for this event

About the Film
This intimate film, evocative and poetic, follows the steps of an elderly woman in the years between 1988 and 2001. Blanche was born in Jaffa, Palestine, where her parents were landowners, and was exiled in the 1948 war.

Netflix Film: The Swimmers
2022-11-23
THE SWIMMERS
A Netflix film directed and written by Sally El Hosaini

Based on a true story, THE SWIMMERS follows the journey from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics. Two young sisters embark on a harrowing journey as refugees, putting both their hearts and champion swimming skills to heroic use.
Catch it at the Arab Film Festival before it streams!
The Swimmers will be on Netflix November 23

2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour [In-Person Only]
2023-01-04 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-01-12 19:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of 7 short films curated from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival short film program, including three titles that won Festival awards.
Including:
Warsha

France & Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Dania Bdeir, Producer: Coralie Dias)
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom. Fiction. Cast: Khansa. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction.
Dania Bdeir is a Canadian-Lebanese writer and director. She’s a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and has an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with Warsha. She is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film.

Read more

2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour [In-Person Only]
2023-01-05 19:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of 7 short films curated from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival short film program, including three titles that won Festival awards.
Including:
Warsha

France & Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Dania Bdeir, Producer: Coralie Dias)
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom. Fiction. Cast: Khansa. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction.
Dania Bdeir is a Canadian-Lebanese writer and director. She’s a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and has an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with Warsha. She is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film.

Read more

Thu Jan 05: 7.30pm PDT

Fri Jan 06: 7.30pm PDT

Sat Jan 07: 4.30pm PDT, 7.30pm PDT

Sun Jan 08: 4.30pm PDT, 7.30pm PDT

Wed Jan 11: 7.30pm PDT

Thu Jan 12: 7.30pm PDT

2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour [In-Person Only]
2023-01-06 19:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of 7 short films curated from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival short film program, including three titles that won Festival awards.
Including:
Warsha

France & Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Dania Bdeir, Producer: Coralie Dias)
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom. Fiction. Cast: Khansa. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction.
Dania Bdeir is a Canadian-Lebanese writer and director. She’s a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and has an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with Warsha. She is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film.

Read more

Fri Jan 06: 7.30pm PDT

Sat Jan 07: 4.30pm PDT, 7.30pm PDT

Sun Jan 08: 4.30pm PDT, 7.30pm PDT

Wed Jan 11: 7.30pm PDT

Thu Jan 12: 7.30pm PDT

2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour [In-Person Only]
2023-01-07 16:30 - 18:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of 7 short films curated from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival short film program, including three titles that won Festival awards.
Including:
Warsha

France & Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Dania Bdeir, Producer: Coralie Dias)
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom. Fiction. Cast: Khansa. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction.
Dania Bdeir is a Canadian-Lebanese writer and director. She’s a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and has an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with Warsha. She is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film.

Read more

Sat Jan 07: 4.30pm PDT, 7.30pm PDT

Sun Jan 08: 4.30pm PDT, 7.30pm PDT

Wed Jan 11: 7.30pm PDT

Thu Jan 12: 7.30pm PDT

2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour [In-Person Only]
2023-01-07 19:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of 7 short films curated from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival short film program, including three titles that won Festival awards.
Including:
Warsha

France & Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Dania Bdeir, Producer: Coralie Dias)
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom. Fiction. Cast: Khansa. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction.
Dania Bdeir is a Canadian-Lebanese writer and director. She’s a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and has an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with Warsha. She is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film.

Read more

Sat Jan 07: 7.30pm PDT

Sun Jan 08: 4.30pm PDT, 7.30pm PDT

Wed Jan 11: 7.30pm PDT

Thu Jan 12: 7.30pm PDT

2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour [In-Person Only]
2023-01-07 19:30 - 21:30, 2023-01-08 16:30 - 18:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of 7 short films curated from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival short film program, including three titles that won Festival awards.
Including:
Warsha

France & Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Dania Bdeir, Producer: Coralie Dias)
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom. Fiction. Cast: Khansa. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction.
Dania Bdeir is a Canadian-Lebanese writer and director. She’s a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and has an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with Warsha. She is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film.

Read more

Sun Jan 08: 4.30pm PDT, 7.30pm PDT

Wed Jan 11: 7.30pm PDT

Thu Jan 12: 7.30pm PDT

2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour [In-Person Only]
2023-01-08 19:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of 7 short films curated from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival short film program, including three titles that won Festival awards.
Including:
Warsha

France & Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Dania Bdeir, Producer: Coralie Dias)
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom. Fiction. Cast: Khansa. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction.
Dania Bdeir is a Canadian-Lebanese writer and director. She’s a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and has an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with Warsha. She is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film.

Read more

Sun Jan 08: 7.30pm PDT

Wed Jan 11: 7.30pm PDT

Thu Jan 12: 7.30pm PDT

2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour [In-Person Only]
2023-01-11 19:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of 7 short films curated from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival short film program, including three titles that won Festival awards.
Including:
Warsha

France & Lebanon (Director and Screenwriter: Dania Bdeir, Producer: Coralie Dias)
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom. Fiction. Cast: Khansa. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction.
Dania Bdeir is a Canadian-Lebanese writer and director. She’s a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and has an MFA in directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2019 she was selected as a Berlinale Talent and participated in its Short Film Station with Warsha. She is currently based in Dubai and is developing her first feature film.

Read more

Wed Jan 11: 7.30pm PDT

Thu Jan 12: 7.30pm PDT

Movie: Sons of Eilaboun
2023-01-14 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Please click here to register for this event.

Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EST; 7:00 PM Palestine Time.
24 minutes, English subtitles. The film screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Hisham Zreiq.
SYNOPSIS
He choked and his eyes were full of tears, and with a trembling voice he said “I remember it as if it has just happened”, this is the way he ended the story, the story of a nine years old boy from a small village called Eilaboun (Eilabun), in Palestine 1948, the story of my father, when he was a refugee.

Free virtual screening of the film "TANTURA" directed by Alon Schwartz
2023-01-22 09:00 - 11:00
Please click here to watch the film trailer.
Please click here to register for this event.
Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EST; 7:00 PM Palestine Time.
94 minutes, English subtitles. The film screening will be followed by a discussion with Israeli filmmaker Alon Schwartz.
Tantura investigates the massacre at the Palestinian village of Tantura in 1948 and the dogged work of one Israeli researcher to finally expose the truth.

Streaming: There is Field + panel discussion
2023-01-22 12:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
Amnesty International Puget Sound AIPS and Local Group AI-270 will be presentingThere Is A Field this Sunday, January 22, 2023 from 6-8pm PT. The film will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Nada Elia, with Alicia Koustoulieris, Jesse Hagopian, and Jen Marlowe.
About the film:
In October 2000, a police officer shot and killed unarmed 17-year old Asel Asleh. His story is tragically familiar for Americans, but Asel was not killed in Ferguson, New York City, Atlanta, or Minneapolis. Asel was a Palestinian teenager who was murdered by Israeli police as he participated in a demonstration, calling for an end to the Israeli occupation and settler-colonization.
There Is A Field begins as a play about Asel’s life and his death, told from the perspective of his older sister, Nardin. Through Nardin’s struggle to cope with the murder of her brother, the play offers a uniquely personal lens for learning about intersecting systems of oppression, the root causes of state-sanctioned violence and structural racism. Learn more about the film.
About The Panelists:

Nada Elia PhD, (moderator) is a diaspora Palestinian scholar and activist who teaches in the American Cultural Studies program at Western Washington University WWU, and is the author of Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts: Feminism, Inter/Nationalism, and Palestine.
Alicia Koutsoulieris, Amnesty International, USA country specialist for the Israel Occupied Territories – Palestinian Authority – IOPT-PA.
Jesse Hagopian is an educator, author, and part of the 2011 African Heritage Eyewitness Palestine delegation. Jesse’s African ancestors survived the middle passage and enslavement on plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Jen Marlowe is the founder of Donkeysaddle Projects and director and producer of the documentary film There Is A Field.

The free event will take place on Sunday at 3pm ET/6pm PT. Follow this link to register.

Amnesty International Puget Sound AIPS and Local Group AI-270 will be presentingThere Is A Field this Sunday, January 22, 2023 from 6-8pm PT. The film will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Nada Elia, with Alicia Koustoulieris, Jesse Hagopian, and Jen Marlowe.

Virtual screening of "On the Doorstep," directed by Sahera Dirbas
2023-01-28 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
SYNOPSIS
A documentary that shows how three generations of Palestinians in U.S from Bisharat family, have maintained their emotional attachment to their home in West Jerusalem, taken over by Israelis in 1948.
Among them a Valerie 21-year-old, who traveled across the world to visit her grandfather’s house to find out the truth she inherited about the house and managed to meet face to face the current Gisele Arazi 96-year-old Israeli occupant.

Free virtual screening of the documentary film "Objector"
2023-02-05 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
About the Film
Like all Israeli youth, Atalya is expected to become a soldier. Unlike most, she questions the practices of her country’s military, and becomes determined to challenge this rite of passage. Despite her family’s political disagreements and personal concerns, she refuses military duty and is imprisoned for her dissent. Her courage moves those around her to reconsider their own political positions and power to effect change. Objector follows Atalya to prison and beyond, offering a unique perspective of a young woman who seeks truth and takes a stand for justice.

CFFS 2023 – Hopeful Harmonies (Ages 8+) [Hybrid]
2023-02-05 12:00 - 13:30, 2023-02-11 14:00 - 15:30 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
Series of short films. Includes one from the Arab world:
Two in-person showings and available to stream virtually (on your own schedule)

Wall Piano (بيانو الجدار)

PNW premiere!
Part music video, part magical realism, Wall Piano shows a wall as something more than just a barrier for a group of children living near the Qalandia checkpoint in Ramallah, Palestine, a frontline of the West Bank conflict.
(Asma Ghanem, Christopher Marianetti &Alexia Webster, Palestine, 2020, 3 min, nonverbal)

Virtual screening of the film "A Handful of Earth," directed by Sahera Dirbas.
2023-02-11 09:00 - 11:30
Saturday 2/11
Virtual screening of the film “A Handful of Earth,” directed by Sahera Dirbas.
The film examines the role played by oral histories in maintaining the bond between Palestinian refugees and the homes from which they were driven in 1948. Taking its title from the handfuls of earth many still keep from their original villages, the film focuses on refugees from the Tirat Haifa area.
Please click here for more information, film trailer and to register for viewing the film.

CFFS 2023 – The Young Rebels (Ages 8+) [Hybrid]
2023-02-11 16:30 - 18:00
Series of film shorts including:
The Colours of Humanity
North American premiere!

This short explores how immigration can be an overwhelming experience, but through the power of acceptance, can transform into a culturally rich experience for everyone. No matter what filters the world applies to us, we are all human.
(Zainab Sarwar, United Arab Emirates, 2022, 2 min, in English)

Also available to stream at your convenience at home!

Arab Film Series Online: Time for Ilhan
2023-02-22 - 2023-02-25 | Virtual
Ilhan Omar, a young, hijab-wearing mother of three, takes on two formidable opponents in a highly contested race for a seat in the Minnesota State Legislature. Up against a 43-year incumbent, Ilhan is the “outsider” – a Muslim, refugee, woman of color seeks to challenge the party’s status quo while simultaneously defying lingering gender norms within her own Muslim community.
TIME FOR ILHAN shadows Ilhan and her scrappy group of dedicated campaign staffers throughout the entire campaign’s dramatic uphill battle. A fresh and timely take on theclassic American Dream, the film offers an inspiring, stereotype-busting portrait of one of America’s brightest new political stars, at the start of her meteoric ascent from political newcomer to becoming one of the first Muslim Women in the U.S. Congress. Her story, part of a larger, unprecedented wave of growing diversity in elected office around the country offers a powerful and transformative reminder of the reflective, representative democracy that is truly possible.

Movie: Blue Caftan (Portland showing)
2023-03-03 | Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave, Portland, OR, 97209, United States
Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim.
Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.
In Arabic with English subtitles.

Time: TBD, please check website

Virtual screening of the documentary film "Britain in Palestine 1917-1948"
2023-04-01 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
To register for this event please click here.
Screening will start at 12:00 Noon US EDT; 7:00 PM Palestine Time 18 minutes, English. The film screening will be followed by Q&A discussion with Sir Vincent Fean, a British diplomat, and John McHugo, a British historian.
About the Film
The film investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the groundwork for the Nakba (the catastrophe) and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

Salt of This Sea: Streaming
2023-04-06 - 2023-04-09 | Virtual
Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather’s savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Stubborn, passionate and determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of “returning” to Palestine. Slowly she is taken apart by the reality around her and is forced to confront her own internal anger. She meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they know in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even if it’s illegal.

Streaming virtually through Arab Film Media Institute (AFMI)

The Desert Rocker: Streaming
2023-04-06 - 2023-04-09 | Virtual
THE DESERT ROCKER won Best Feature Documentary at last year’s Arab Film Festival and we are excited to host an in-person screening in NYC and to make it available for streaming online, together with a pre-recorded Talkback with director Sara Nacer.
This screening is presented in partnership with YallaPunk.
About The Desert Rocker:
The Desert Rocker is an intimate, witty and profound portrait of the extraordinary Hasna El Becharia, a pioneer Gnawa artist. The first musician to break through the social barrier of this culture, she empowers and inspires women of all ages by reclaiming a musical tradition reserved for men for centuries. A singularly talented artist, she leads women to redefine their roles and challenge cultural norms, one musical performance at a time.

Movie: Sirens: Streaming
2023-04-06 - 2023-04-09 | Virtual
A powerful documentary, SIRENS is not to be missed! Join us in NY on April 8th or stream it online, together with a pre-recorded Talkback with director Rita Baghdadi.
This screening is presented in partnership with YallaPunk.
About Sirens:
On the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and her thrash metal bandmates have big dreams but few opportunities. When the band’s appearance at a UK music festival isn’t the life-changer they had hoped for, Lilas comes home to Lebanon on the brink of collapse. At the same time, the complicated relationship between Lilas and her fellow guitarist Shery starts to fracture. The future of her band, her country, and her dreams now all at stake, Lilas faces a crossroad.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: The Rabbi's Cat at SIFF
2023-04-22 11:00 - 12:30 | SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N,, Seattle, WA, 98109, United States
**Potentially problematic, red flag for me = movie based in Algeria but uses colonial language French**
The story of a rabbi and his talking cat – a sharp-tongued feline philosopher brimming with scathing humor and a less than pure love for the rabbi’s voluptuous teenage daughter. Recommended for ages 12+.

Movie: Nine Parts: PBS Broadcast
2023-04-26 - 2023-04-30 | Virtual
Film available for screening through April 30, 2023

Nine Parts – PBS Broadcast
A film by Mike Mosallam, Heather Raffo and Nilou Safinya
Streaming on PBS – Watch now!
Uprooted after her father’s death during the pandemic, an Iraqi American woman attempts to grieve at the site of the oldest Iraqi Church in North America. What starts in profound isolation, becomes communal as Iraqi women, ordinary and extraordinary, come to her in spirit and ancestry with their personal stories of love and resilience. Together, they offer a celebration of the Iraqi female experience and an explicit warning – the divisions Iraq endured are not unique, Iraq is a bellwether for America now.
Nearly 20 years ago, 9 Parts of Desire premiered to widespread acclaim on London stages and Off-Broadway, later becoming a global theatrical phenomenon. Now, Heather Raffo adapts her multi-award-winning solo play about Iraqi women for the screen and for our current time. From Iraq to Michigan, Raffo transforms into a wide cross-section of Iraqi women in her inspiring exploration of love and grief within countries undone by division, violence and loss.
Watch an interview with Heather Raffo and AANM Public Programming Coordinator, Fatima Al-Rasool, on PBS NewsHour about the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Heather Raffo is a singular and outstanding voice in the American theater whose work has been championed by the New Yorker as “an example of how art can remake the world.” Having helped forge a new genre of Arab American theater, she’s spent her career writing and embodying stories of Iraq: from the lives and dreams of Iraqi women in her seminal work 9 Parts of Desire (2003), to the suicidal ideation of an Iraq war veteran in the opera Fallujah (2012), to the restless longings of an Iraqi refugee architect in Noura (2018). A multi award-winning writer and actor, she’s toured nationally and internationally: from the Kennedy Center to The Aspen Ideas Festival and from London’s House of Commons to the U.S. Islamic World Forum. Her newly released anthology, Heather Raffo’s Iraq Plays: The Things That Can’t Be Said, brings together two decades of her most groundbreaking contributions to the American theater and speaks to the bravery required to be at the forefront of a movement. Her newest Migration Play Cycle, her most ambitious theatrical imagining in scale and scope, situates themes around migration and the global economy. Being raised in the Midwest and the daughter of an Iraqi immigrant, Raffo has committed her artistic practice to working across all kinds of borders: on mainstages and in rural communities; with the military and in the Arab world; in swing states and in refugee facilities. She is uniquely positioned to explore what migration means for an ever-evolving American and global identity. Photo credit for headshot is: Satya Tisman Photography
