‘Radical Films, Radical Forms’ – A Thinking List by Momtaza Mehri

Other Cinemas are pleased to announce our ‘Radical Films, Radical Forms’ weekender taking place on the 25th – 27th of March, which has been co-curated with filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky. As part of the programme, we have asked Momtaza Mehri to put together a list, a syllabus, to help us explore the themes of the programme and to offer us more opportunities to read, to watch and to learn. 

I Am The One Who Brings Flowers to Her Grave (2006)

Out on the Street (2015) 

Ghost Hunting (2017)

A Feeling Greater Than Love (2017)

The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived (1974)

About the films

I Am The One Who Brings Flowers To Her Grave – a film by Hala Alabdalla and Ammar el-Beik

This film is a cinematographic cross between the documentary, the narrative, and the experimental, in which Syrian director Hala Alabdalla blurs the boundaries between genres and time. She combines the present with the past, and merges private and public concerns. Using converging and intertwining storylines, she narrates her friends’ experiences of prison, their disappointments, stubbornness, holding on to the light in their hearts. Shot in black and white, the film aims to portray all colours of life with its sweetness and bitterness.

Out On The Street – a film by J​asmina Metwaly and Philip Rizk

Nine men gather for a workshop on a rooftop. There they perform confrontations of everyday life, with the police and at the workplace. In the process, the actors engage a space between the theatrical and the real. This is not a film about workers.The factory is a microcosm, a miniature Egypt. 

Watch the trailer.

 

Ghost Hunting – a film by Raed Andoni 

In order to confront the ghosts that haunt him, Palestinian director Raed Andoni assembles an eclectic group of ex-prisoners to recreate the Al-Moskobiya, Israel’s main interrogation centre, where he was himself jailed at age 18. Day after day, these construction workers, a blacksmith, an architect, an assistant director give shape to their memories of how they survived with grit and a sense of humor. As the walls of the cells rise, the tongues and the emotions loosen.  

Watch the trailer.

 

 

A Feeling Greater Than Love – a film by Mary Jirmanus Saba 

In her directorial debut, Mary Jirmanus Saba deals with a forgotten revolution, saving from oblivion bloodily suppressed strikes at Lebanese tobacco and chocolate factories. These events from the 1970s, which held the promise of a popular revolution and, with it, of women’s emancipation were erased from collective memory by the country’s civil wars. Rich in archival footage from Lebanons militant cinema tradition, the film reconstructs the spirit of that revolt, asking of the past how we might transform the present.

Watch the trailer. 

 


The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived – a film by Heiny Srour 

In the late 60s, Dhofar rose up against the British-backed Sultanate of Oman, in a democratic, feminist guerrilla movement. Director Heiny Srour and her team crossed 500 miles of desert and mountains by foot, under bombardment by the British Royal Air Force, to reach the conflict zone and capture this rare record of a now mostly-forgotten war. 


Accessibility: The venue has step-free access and there is a lift, for those who might need it, to access to the main space. There is a disabled toilet. The chairs aren’t cushioned, they have a backrest but no arms rest but we are able to provide cushions. Cushioned chairs with armrests and backrests can be requested. There will be no BSL interpreter unfortunately. All the films are in Arabic and will therefore be subtitled in English.

Location: The Yellow, 1 Humphry Repton Lane, Wembley, HA9 0GL View Map

Support: These events are supported by Brent Council and The Doc Society.