Honoring Palestinian History with Filmmaker Annemarie Jacir

When I Saw You, the second feature film by leading Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir (Salt of this Sea), centers on an 11-year-old boy who has been exiled to Jordan along with his mother in the wake of the 1967 War and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Rejecting the situation, young Tarek sets off from the refugee camp back to Palestine on his own, but is picked up and taken in by a group of fedayeen — the young, idealist fighters who were ready to sacrifice their lives to liberate Palestine in the ’60s and ’70s.

When I Saw You was screened during the sold-out opening night of the Chicago Palestine Film Festival earlier this month, where Jacir was present. I sat down with the director, who told me that she made a hopeful film despite her deep depression, how she put her actors through military training, and described the lengthy search to find the young star of her film. The following transcript was edited for length.

READ MORE AT The Electronic Intifada

Q & A with Artist Hassan Hajjaj: When Art Becomes a Way of Life

“Art is a way of life,” says Morrocan artist Hassan Hajjaj.

We are all artists in our own way, and Hassan Hajjaj is definetly making art a personal story. A unique London-based artist from Morroco, Hajjaj has lived in London since the 1970s, creating exceptional and odd pieces of art that manifest into all sorts of things such as canvases, prints, and even furniture.

A school drop out that would one day transform himself into a fantastic artist, there’s so much more to Hassan Hajjaj than just art.

READ MORE AT Khaleej Esque

*Photo Credit: Courtesy of Crossway Foundation via Facebook

Street Artist Aakash Nihalani's Spatially Arresting Designs Go Indoors

When Aakash Nihalani walks through the streets of New York City, he notices interesting colors, shapes, and other objects as much as the next person. But instead of taking an Instagram photo or making a mental note, Nihalani outlines that interesting object or shape with using the neon tape that he carries on him at all times, boxed within square or cube patterns. It is an ongoing series of both street art and indoor installations, the latter of which can be seen at his current show “Islands” at Brooklyn’s Signal Gallery through May 14.

This street artist highlights and emphasizes space in a way that’s elegant in its simplicity and form.

READ MORE AT Blouin ArtInfo

*Photo Credit: Poster Boy NYC

The Butterfly Effect: An Interview with Louna Sbou

Launched in 2012, The Butterfly Effect event series has given Amman a breath of fresh air. When I first attended one of the events in March 2012, I forgot I was in Jordan as I listened to poets and musicians from all over – Palestine, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, and America. I was exposed to acoustic tunes, beat boxing, slam poetry, hip-hop and rock music. The vibe was right, the poetry was tight, and the music was off the chain!

READ MORE AT Kalimat Magazine

*Photo Credit: YouinJordan.com on Facebook

Humans of New York in Tehran

Though I’d done a good bit of dispassionate research, my perception of Iran was still largely dominated by the image depicted in American media reports—the country seemed angry, fanatic, and bent on conflict with the West. My recent viewing of Argo hadn’t helped matters. The Oscar-nominated film was currently number one at the box office. And for many Americans, its violent depiction of Iran was their only exposure to the country. The dark landscape below did little to dispel my anxieties. From high in the air, all I could make out was a great, black expanse, dotted occasionally by outposts of light. I foolishly imagined the clusters of light to be military checkpoints, anti-aircraft batteries, oil refineries, and underground nuclear bunkers. Even from 30,000 feet, the whole country seemed menacing. The Western media’s portrayal of Iran still had a firm hold on me. And since it was too dark to tell otherwise, the revelations would have to wait.

READ MORE AT Bettery Magazine

*Photo Credit: Brandon Stanton, photo courtesy of Humans of New York via Facebook

Cairo's Art Festivals Engulfed in Politics

A man holds a placard of former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi and faces a screen playing footage identical to the man’s surroundings, almost. On the screen, the sign he’s holding turns into a photo of Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat El-Shater. The other signs featuring non-Islamist leaders appear as either Islamist politicians or members of the Mubarak regime. Chants supporting President Mohamed Morsi echo through that Zamalek street.

Sameh El-Tawil was taking pictures and video footage. He said he’ll post the “fake” video online showcasing the distorted image of reality, his own commentary on the nation’s media and political scenes providing both a backdrop and inspiration to his and others’ digital installations that breezy March night.

READ MORE AT Al-Monitor

*Photo Credit: Cairo Digital Art Festival via Facebook

Palestinian Rappers Spark Debate With New Album

From Haifa to Ramallah, New York to San Francisco, the three Palestinian rappers from DAM have been busy promoting their new album Dabke on the Moon. But this time, more than a decade after first mesmerizing young Palestinians with political rhymes against Israeli oppression, the musicians have sparked criticism from an unlikely group — liberal Palestinian academics.

Their fans have been waiting six years for the release of their new album, which is full of danceable messages from the three wise men of Arabic hip hop. But the emcees have directed some of their new lyrical criticism to oppression in Palestinian society.

READ MORE AT Al-Monitor

*Photo Credit: Christopher Hazou 

Dubai Designer Marina Qureshi behind Florence Welch Dress

There was something in the cut, the yards of teal-green flowing chiffon, the sheer panel and gold decorative trim at the waist, not to mention the distinctive romance of form, that had people asking: did the dress Florence Welch was wearing during her stellar Sandance concert at the weekend come from the East?

It turns out the dress came from none other than the Dubai-born Asian-British designer Marina Qureshi, who graduated from Esmod Dubai in 2010 with a degree in fashion design and pattern-making.

READ MORE AT The National

*Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Marina Qureshi London via Facebook

From Revolution to Resistance, New Book Tracks Egypt's Street Art Movement

With 430 color photographs, Mia Gröndahl’s “Revolution Graffiti: Street Art of the New Egypt” (American University in Cairo Press) offers a full and vibrant look at street art in Egypt. The photographer and author, who lives in Cairo, explains that graffiti was practically unknown before the revolution, with a few exceptions (Hajj paintings, for example, which might be put up on the walls of a household whose members made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and commercial slogans that were sometimes painted directly on walls). Then came January 25, 2011, and the street art scene in Egypt was born overnight in an incubator of popular unrest. It would be hard to imagine a more urgently political artistic movement: its locations, references, and iconography are all connected to the demands of revolution. Here are a few highlights...

READ MORE AT Blouin ArtInfo

*Photo Credit: Gigi Ibrahim

A Conversation with Director Mira Nair

On Friday, April 26, the Mira Nair-directed thriller “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” [opened] in theaters across the United States. The film, based on the novel by the Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid, stars the British actor Riz Ahmed as a possible terrorist.

The film begins at an outdoor café in Lahore in 2011 with Mr. Ahmed as Changez, a young Pakistani, telling an American journalist called Bobby, played by Liev Schreiber, his life story and how he ended up back in his homeland. A Princeton graduate, he landed a job at a prestigious financial firm in New York, fell in love with Erica, played by Kate Hudson and was on his way to having it all when Sept. 11, 2001 intervened. He was strip searched and interrogated because of his Pakistani origin, which led him to start questioning who he really was.

READ MORE AT The New York Times India Ink

*Photo Credit: Image.net