Untold Stories: Short Films

Saturday 11/08 at St. Anthony Main Theatre 10:30am | get tickets >>>
+ LOCAL IRAQI EMERGING FILMMAKERS Q&A

Dubai Children’s International Film Festival Winners:
“Speechless” (Grade 9 to 13 category) and “Selfish Magic” (Grade 5 to 8 category)

Synopsis:
Children’s films made outside the United States are difficult enough to come by, so how about films made by non-Arab expatriate students in the United Arab Emirates! Speechless won the 9–13 grade competition and Selfish Magic won the 5–8 grade contest—two shorts from a hardly exhibited source of artistic expression.

2014
26 minutes
Narrative shorts
Directors: Rahul Rajyaguru, Saad Ali
Language: Arabic, subtitled
Country: Iraq/UK

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35mm Shorts from Iraq:
Lipstick, Children of War, War Canister, Nesma’s Birds, Children of God, Happy Birthday

Synopsis:
These short films were made as part of a workshop in Iraq whose goal was to aid in reestablishing filmmaking in the region by encouraging young and emerging Iraqi filmmakers to produce work. These six narrative shorts, made by filmmakers who came into adulthood during the US occupation of Iraq, are wholly centered on children. Screened together they deliver an arresting, earnest, and redolent commentary on the lives of Iraqi children. These short films offer variegated perceptions rendered with the care and attention of artists who have internalized their environments to express reality as they see it.

2013
56 minutes
Narrative shorts (6)
Directors: Mohaned Hayal, Luay Fadhil Abbas, Yahya Al-Allaq, Najwan Ali, Medoo Ali, Ahmed Yassin
Language: Arabic, subtitled
Country: Iraq/UK
Website

Festivals and Awards:
-35mm Iraqi Shorts Program–Dubai International Film Festival
-Happy Birthday–Berlin International Film Festival: official selection
-Nesma’s Birds–BFI London Film Festival: official selection
-Children of War–Dubai International Film Festival: official selection in Muhr Arab short competition
-Children of God–Dubai International Film Festival: winner of the Fipresci award for best Arab short film

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Iraqi Voices: Iraqi+American Reconciliation Project presents short films by local Iraqis (2014) :
“The Iraqi Dream”
“That’s What We Hear on the News”
“The Barbershop”
“Torn Between”
“The Document”

Synopsis:
Based in Minneapolis, the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) facilitates artistic and cultural dialogue between Iraqis and Americans. Iraqi Voices is an ongoing collaborative mentorship program produced by Nathan Fisher that gives Iraqis in Minnesota support and training to produce documentary video shorts.

*Presented by the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, this activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.