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SAFAR Shorts:
A Journey Through Space and Time + Q&A
Institute of Contemporary Arts
Films
A person stands in a desert, holding a piece of branch behind their back
Heart (Galb’echaouf), dir. Abdessamad El Montassir, Western Sahara / Morocco  2021, 19 min., Hassanya with English subtitles

SAFAR Film Festival

Which untold stories lie under the vastness of the desert? And which untold secrets remain hidden under a common roof? How does your life shape up when you decide to leave a place you called home and move to a foreign territory? And how does it feel to go back in time to tell a love story, in an era in which analog tapes were still the real thing?

Responding to this year’s overarching festival theme, this programme of Arab short films offer a reflection on spaces and time.

Curator Rabih El-Khoury will be joined by VHS Tape Replaced director Maha Al-Salti for a post-screening discussion.


Programme

Les Chenilles
Dirs. Noel and Michelle Keserwany, France / Lebanon 2023, 29 min., Arabic & French with English subtitles

Asma and Sarah meet while working as waitresses in France. They both come from the Levant and are carrying the shadows of the past with them, each in their own way. They tentatively befriend each other and find a common ground that goes back to the time when the city of Lyon was connected to their homeland via the Silk Road. 


Galb’echaouf (Heart)
Dir. Abdessamad El Montassir, Western Sahara / Morocco 2021, 19 min., Hassanya with English subtitles

How does one tell a story of displacement? The people present in Galb’Echaouf seem unable to talk about the trauma of the past. Perhaps, because there is nothing left that could possibly be said. Instead, Abdessamad El Montassir looks to the landscape for testimony, a landscape that has borne witness.


Life on the Horn
Dir. Mo Harawe, Austria / Somalia / Germany 2020, 25 min., Somali with English subtitles

For over a decade, toxic waste has been dumped illegally on the coastline of Somalia. The earthquake and tsunami in 2004 damaged the toxic containers and spilled waste, which caused the spread of diseases. Many people left their villages but some stayed and lived with the consequences.

 
UK PREMIERE VHS Tape Replaced
Dir. Maha Al-Saati, Saudi Arabia 2022, 17 min., Arabic with English subtitles

Set in 1987, a young black Saudi man attempts to impress his crush by mimicking an iconic singer. But after recording the videotape, it finds its way into the wrong hands. This film explores racial identity in a time of analogue media.

 
UK PREMIERE My Girl Friend (Sahbety)
Dir. Kawthar Younis, Egypt 2022, 17 min., Arabic with English subtitles

Desperate for intimacy, Ali follows his girlfriend’s suggestion that puts their relationship to the test. The plan unfolds unexpectedly when gender roles become blurred.
 
Ticket information
  • All tickets that do not require ID (full price, disabled, income support) can be printed at home or stored in email
  • For aged-based concession tickets (under 25, student and pensioner) please bring relevant ID to collect at the front desk before the event.

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