Our editors select TMR World Picks. We welcome your suggestions: editors@themarkaz.org
TMR
41st Literary Translation Conference, Nov 1-3
Arles, France —more info
Join translators, authors, and literary enthusiasts as they dive deep into the magic of dialogue and the beautiful complexities of otherness through the lens of literary translation. Mark your calendars for November 2nd, when you won’t want to miss the captivating talk, “Leyla et Majnûn, un dialogue entre Arabe et Persan,” featuring the brilliant minds of Leili Anvar and Pierre Larcher. And on November 3rd, immerse yourself in the profound poetry of Mahmoud Darwish.
A War Like No Other: Challenge and Change in Reporting Gaza, Nov 4
the first Ian Black Lecture by Jim Muir
London School of Economics, London UK, to watch or attend online—register
Any time a war or revolution took place in the Middel East and beyond, Jim Muir was the reporter on the ground for the BBC. He covered the Lebanese Civil War, the 1991 Kurdish uprising against Saddam Hussein, and the elections of (so-called) reformist Iranian president Mohammad Katami. He was on assignment with the iconic photojournalist, cameraman, and artist Kaveh Golestan when Golestan stepped on a landmine in Iraq and died in 2003. Muir has lived in Cairo and has been a long-term resident of Beirut. He will be giving the inaugural lecture in the series dedicated to the memory of Middle East reporter and Guardian editor, Ian Black. For this lecture, Muir will consider the role of journalists and media organizations even though foreign journalists have been denied access to Gaza by Israel; the rise of citizen journalism in this war; and social media’s role in both in truthful and false news narratives. —Malu Halasa
2024 Arab American Book Awards Ceremony, Nov 9
In-person at the Arab American National Museum & online—more info
In a powerful celebration of voices that deserve to be heard, the 2024 Arab American Book Award ceremony is here. Join from wherever you are as they honor the remarkable winners and honorable mentions, in a night of captivating readings from their acclaimed works. In a time when many in the Arab American community feel they are being silenced and dehumanized, this event shines a spotlight on diverse stories and unique perspectives.
International Summit of Arab Thought, Nov 14-15
Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe—more info
Supported by celebrated thinker and sociologist Edgar Morin, this inaugural summit aims to unveil the rich intellectual heritage of the Arab world to a global audience. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Paris, inspiring talks from leading experts in Arab culture will introduce the dynamic contributions of prominent figures shaping the landscape of knowledge and ideas in media, politics, Arab-Islamic heritage, human and social sciences, and more. The summit is not just a series of discussions—it’s a powerful platform for fostering dialogue and illuminating the connections between Arab and European thought.
London Palestine Film Festival, Nov 15-29
London UK in several locations—more info
Screening on Nov. 17 —Inas Halabi’s We No Longer Prefer Mountains (2023) examines the religious Druze community in northern occupied Palestine.
This year’s festival will showcase a selection of the most eagerly awaited films that delve into the rich narratives of Palestine, from beloved classics the vibrant stories of political realities faced by Palestinians both at home and in the diaspora. LPFF will host the launch of Azza El Hassan’s ground-breaking book, The Afterlife of Palestinian Images: Visual Remains and the Archive of Disappearance (Palgrave, 2024), which explores how the impact of colonial violence transforms visual objects, reshaping society and culture’s relationship with its images. Tickets sell out quickly, full program here.
Screening on Nov. 24 —Kamal Aljafari’s The Fidai Film (2024) investigating Israel’s looting of Palestinian films which took place in Beirut in 1982, and proposes a counter-narrative of a continuous history of appropriation.
Seventh Edition of the Sharjah Film Platform, Nov 15-24
Sharjah, UAE
Sharjah Film Platform 7 will feature the UAE premiers of nearly 30 independent and experimental films in Mirage City Cinema and Vox Cinemas, in Sharjah. The selection of films during the ten-day-long film-platform-festival comes from countries around the world. Highlights include: Kamal Al Jafari’s documentary A Fidai Film (2024) that reclaims looted memories of Palestinian history through archival footage; Places of the Soul (2023) by Hamida Issa contrasts Antarctica’s icy wastes with the deserts of Qatar; while The Great Yawn of History (2024) by Iranian filmmaker Aliyar Rasti tells of a religious man’s quest for hidden treasure. Two films supported by the Sharjah Art Foundation will also be shown: From Ground Zero (2024), an anthology of 22 short films created by filmmakers from Gaza; and short film Upshot (2024), directed by Maha Haj. Film screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with participating directors. The Platform’s Director in Focus program honors regional auteurs for their lifetime achievements in global cinema. This year’s winner is the Syrian director Mohamad Malas, whose his latest film, Oh Father, I Am Youssef (2024) will have its global premier at SFP7, alongside a retrospective of his films, The Dream (1987) and The Night (1992). The Sharjah Film Platform Feature Fund will award 500,000 AED to one UAE-based scriptwriter, director or lead/executive producer for the completion of an English- or Arabic-language narrative feature currently under production.
Screening + Q&A: Waad al Kateeb’s Death Without Mercy Nov 18
Frontline Club, London UK—more info
The director of For Sama captures the anguish of Syrian and Turkish communities as they reeled from the shattering 2023 earthquake, that killed more than 50,000 people. Using an innovative blend of footage including CCTV, drone shots, and first-person accounts, this powerful film highlights the devastating impact of the natural disaster and the human failures that exacerbated its effects.
My Stolen Planet screening, dir. Farahnaz Sharifi, Nov 20-Dec 1
DOCNYC, Wednesday, Village East by Angelika,
In Iran, Farahnaz Sharifi collected reels of film abandoned by familes fleeing Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and built up a significant archive. The dominant footage showed family gatherings mainly of men and glamorous woman dancing more often than not, in single sexed groups or with their children. The most important memories that were documented were seemingly joyous ones. Sharifi, an obsessive young filmmaker in Tehran, filmed everything on her first mobile phone with a decent camera: her friends on the streets of Iran and their underground, illegal parties, the main footage of which shows them dancing. Political events forced her into exile and from Germany she watched that same kind of joyous dancing in the social media clips coming out of Iran’s Woman Life Freedom revolution. These iconic moving images blown up big in the cinema are arresting. In My Stolen Planet intimate family memoir and the very public history of nations collide. The film goes on to include home film footage filmed provided by families of their loved ones who had been slaughtered by the regime during the 2022-23 protests. In this remarkable documentary, the young Jina Masha Amina can be seen dancing. —Malu Halasa
Jameel Prize: Moving Images, Nov 30
V&A, South Kensington, London—more info
This exhibition reflects how artists delve deep into the heart of identity, community, and personal history. Visitors are invited to experience these themes through an array of intimate and immersive encounters featuring film, photography, animation, installation, sound, sculpture, and virtual reality. Join them for an inspiring one-day symposium, “Landed Histories: Ecology, Power, and Politics in Digital and Lens-based Practices,” happening on the same day bringing together artists, academics, and researchers to address the powerful potential of digital and lens-based practices, as a means for exploring history and ecology in the Middle East and South Asia.
Just Vision: Palestine Cinema Days Around the World
Ongoing—Nov 30 —more info
Filmlab Palestine, the organizers of Palestine Cinema Days, has been unable to host its annual film festival in Ramallah since 2023 and has pivoted to calling upon their community to support them in a worldwide version of the festival. And Just Vision was happy to take up the call. As part of the global program, Naila and the Uprising will also be screening at events in the U.K., Tunisia, India, Slovenia, Jordan, Finland, Chile, Iraq, Portugal, China, Ireland and several other countries.
Newly Published:
Women, Art, Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran by Pamela Karimi (Leuven University Press, 2024)
Pamela Karimi is the Susan Sontag of Iran. Her new book Women Art Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran goes inside the country’s art, street performance and theatre involved in and after the major Woman Life Freedom protests of 2022-23. Her access to creatives inside the country coupled with her critical acumen makes this academic volume essential reading for followers of contemporary Iran. At its core is perhaps the best analysis of the relationship between culture — in its many forms from language and live performance to art, including graffiti and art made in prisons — to the civil disobediance, and the forms of guerilla and local activism that rocked Iran during the women’s revolution. In three years time Woman, Art, Freedom will be made open access through JSTOR; the American Council of Learned Societies; University of Michigan Press; and the University of North Carolina Press but why wait until then? —Malu Halasa
Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative, by Isabella Hammad (Atlantic Grove, 2024)
The award-winning novelist of The Parisian and Enter Ghost shares an essay on the Palestinian struggle and the power of narrative that Rashid Khalidi, author of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine has described as “extraordinary and amazingly erudite. Hammad shows how art and especially literature can be much, much more revealing than political writing.” Nine days before October 7, 2023, Isabella Hammad delivered the Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture at Columbia University. The text of Hammad’s seminal speech and her afterword, written in the early weeks of 2024, together make up a searing appraisal of the war on Palestine during what seems a turning point in the narrative of human history. —Rana Asfour
