MENA presents its first Pop-Up event to increase access outside of the Vancouver core! Join us for a night of special programming starting at 2:00PM on Saturday, November 9, at Coquitlam’s Evergreen Cultural Centre as we project two short-film screenings of movies we’ve never presented before, in partnership with Close-Up Film Festival.
Close up & Far Out features a diverse lineup of recent work representing filmmakers of Syrian, Lebanese, Saudi, Iranian and Palestinian background.
Following a break with refreshments in the lobby, we present Atmospheric Afghanistan with a focused roundup of new Afghan and Afghan-Canadian shorts, preceded by introductory words and a special musical performance.
Enjoy the entire MENA Pop-up in Coquitlam starting at 2pm with the MENA Film Pop-Up Day Pass. This includes refreshments and introductory activities before each screening, so come early and don’t miss out!
2:00 PM – The MENA Pop Up Team welcomes you with tea and snacks!.
2:45 PM – Screening #1: Special programming of recent work by various MENA communities
6:00 PM - Join the community for a sampling of delicious local Egyptian cuisine
7:00 PM - Theatre doors open for the live musical performance
8:00 PM - Screening #2: Special programming of new Afghan and Afghan-Canadian short films
Fariborz Alagheband and Ramin Rahmati will open the second half of MENA Pop-Up with a program of Afghan music on the Rubab, an instrument of Afghan origin, showcasing its rich musical heritage, before our Atmospheric Afghanistan screenings.
Tara is a writer, director, poet and multidisciplinary artist born in Iran. As a former journalist and documentarian she focused on Mid-East and international politics, art and culture. In recent years she’s been writing, directing and producing independently. Her debut short film THE RIDE was commissioned by BFI Network and premiered at Cinequest Festival and has been selected in festivals internationally and won Best Short Film at Nostalgia Film Festival. Her second short film BRIDGE was produced by Kusini Productions and BBC and premiered at Norwich Film Festival. It has travelled extensively in the circuit with 11 nominations and 4 wins: Best Direction, Best International Short Film (Contemporanea Festival); Best Narrative Short, Best Actress (I Will Tell Festival). Tara is an intersectional feminist, human rights activist and an advocate for women and MENA representation.
Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller is a mixed-race Palestinian Screenwriter, Director and Organizer based in Tkaronto. Her work explores themes of fragmented identity, isolation and connection through grounded "oh no, should I laugh?" comedy. Fateema embraces the humour in discomfort to explore the pains and joys of being human and believes in resilience and resistance through laughter. She is particularly passionate about writing nuanced and humanizing representations of Arabs and Muslims for the screen and creating accessible spaces for marginalized voices both in front of and behind the camera.
Julien Kobersy is a Lebanese filmmaker, editor and screenwriter. He obtained his master's degree in filmmaking from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts- ALBA, Balamand University in 2014.
Julien Kobersy wrote, directed and edited several short films and documentaries which were recognized at local and international festivals.
His short film ‘’Echoes’’ won best short film at Rotterdam Arab Film Festival and best screenplay at Casablanca Arab Film Festival. Currently, he's co-writing the series "Men Home La Hon" selected for the AFAC/OSN Writers’ Room program.
Fariba Haidari was born in Afghanistan and moved to Iran as a child. She was educated in nursing and taught filmmaking in Iran via some film courses which took 2 years. She moved back to Afghanistan after her education. She made some films in Afghanistan and got threats by an extremist group because of a fiction film that she made about remarkable women in Afghanistan’s history. She moved again, this time to Sweden. She has been living in Sweden for 10 years (since 2012) and have made two documentaries and one fiction film.
Zelikha Zohra Shoja is an Afghan American artist and filmmaker working primarily in single-channel non-fiction and experimental modes. Her artistic practice is engaged in geopoetics, personal and collective histories of rupture, and the transmission of memory. She holds a BIS in Diaspora Studies from George Mason University and an MFA in Art Video from Syracuse University. Her films have screened at the Aurora Picture Show (Houston), Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse, NY), Goethe Institute (Almaty and Tashkent), Millennium Film Workshop (New York), silent green Kulturquartier (Berlin), VIFF Centre (Toronto), among others.
Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Elham fled the Taliban and came to the UK when he was 10. He likes to make films inspired by stories from his home country, Afghanistan. His debut short film, Our Kind of Love, was BAFTA long-listed in 2019 and went on to be screened at festivals all around the world and has currently been viewed by more than 3 million people on YouTube. His new short film Your Hand Found Mine, which he made with BFI x BAFTA Crew, premiered at the House of Lords and won Best Drama at Berlin Flash Festival.
Ahmad Ebrahimi, a filmmaker from Afghanistan, embarked on his journey behind the camera over a decade ago. His career commenced as a TV content producer before transitioning into directing and producing compelling shorts. Amidst seeking asylum on Lesbos, he passionately
amplifies asylum seekers’ voices through various mediums, including photography and cinema. Notably, his work includes the acclaimed short film “Lucky Vulnerable” and the award-winning documentary “Citizens of Moria.”
