World Picks from the Editors: July 15 — August 2
Film and photography festivals, concerts, art, standup comedy, lectures...TMR World Picks run the gamut and are selected by our editors.
Yemen
Yemen War Survivors Speak in What Have You Left Behind?
Saliha Haddad reviews the English translation of Bushra al-Maqtari's book of oral histories on those who survived the war in Yemen.
Sudden Journeys: Deluge at Wadi Feynan
In her Sudden Journeys column for February, Jenine Abboushi unfurls the Jordanian desert and mountains in the Wadi Feynan.
Yemen’s Feminist Trailblazer Flees Death Threats for a New Life in the UK
Facing death threats from the Houthis, minister of education Nadia Al-Sakkaf, editor in chief of the Yemen Times, flees Yemen.
“Fatima and The Handsome Jew”—Ali Al-Muqri
In "The Handsome Jew" the novelist from Yemen recounts a powerful yet tragic tale of forbidden love.
War and Trauma in Yemen: Asim Abdulaziz’s “1941”
Farah Abdessamad considers generations of survivors in Yemen's first experimental film.
The Ignominy of Guantánamo: a History of Torture
Marian Janssen, biographer of a forthcoming volume on the flamboyant American poet Carolyn Kizer, reviews the new memoir by former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi.
Victims of Discrimination Never Forget in The Forgotten Ones
TMR reviews a film on discrimination in Israel and the original Jews of the Middle East and North Africa. The Forgotten Ones screened in October’s annual CINEMED festival in Montpellier and screens in the DOC NYC Fest on 11/09 (press screening), 11/14 and 11/15. More info.
Guantánamo—The World’s Most Infamous Prison
An excerpt from Sarah Mirk's graphic novel describes life in the infamous US prison in Cuba.
The Murals of Yemen’s Haifa Subay
Yemen street artist, activist and mother Haifa Subay speaks to Farah Abdessamad about the state of the country and her work.
In Yemen, Women are the Heroes
International aid worker and writer Farah Abdessamad has been traveling to Yemen for work since 2014. This is the first time she has written about her experiences there publicly.
The Revolution Sees its Shadow 10 Years Later
Mischa Geracoulis remembers Zahra's Paradise along with the Arab awakenings, George Floyd, Covid-19 and Groundhog Day.