the final cut for ‘the injured body’ is done folx! this is literally all i have done, day and night (slept at 5am many many times) for the last few months especially march and april, ever since i got back from pakistan. i am exhausted but oh so happy, so very happy. i cannot express in words what this project means to me. filmmaking is teamwork, its v nature is collaborative, and i love all the people in this film plus all the artists who have made this film possible. what a unique, diverse, strong and beautiful community we are! the film is off to don casper, brilliant filmmaker and film prof, for post production soon but here is a behind the scenes peek at what my life has been for a while now. me and adobe premiere pro. it’s a good match 🙂
that’s amanda chestnut on the screen – the first interview in the film
I finished the rough cut for The Injured Body last night!!! A film about racism in America inspired by Claudia Rankine’s book, Citizen: An American Lyric, with her permission to use her words.
Interviews and convos with 17 women of color, each breathtakingly brilliant and beautiful. 10 gorgeous dancers, 3 choreographers and one photographer – all women.
Stunning cinematography by Rajesh Barnabas, inventive choreography and costume design by Mariko Yamada, and unique musical compositions by Tom Davis
We shot the first interview for this film in 2018. Much has changed in the country (and in the world) since then and much has remained the same. What the film has to share is as important as ever, perhaps critical now.
It took me a while to get here but as I began to stitch the story together on my computer, I realized how much work I had already done over the years – the many transcriptions, notes, timelines, organization and reorganization of material, the consistent editing (interview by interview) to highlight ideas and create video clips in countless sequences and much more.
We finished shooting in 2020 and for the last 5 years the film has been with me, close to me, a part of me. Emotions took over as I watched the entire rough cut – for the enormity of what we have all accomplished together but also for the love and solidarity I feel for all the women in this film. I love what I do – how profoundly it’s connected to other people, and what it allows me to think and feel. A little bit of beauty in the surreal horrors of this world.
The film will premiere on Friday November 14th at Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY. It will come to Rochester in 2026 inshallah!
Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation is premiering in India at this brilliant film festival in Bangalore! April 5th at 2pm
Screenings of Return to Sender in New York, along with Aashish Kumar’s work and Surbhi Sahni’s gourmet food, are already sold out!
But I will be giving a talk and screening the film again at Unity Gallery, Neurology Department, University of Rochester, for their Continuing Medical Education (CME) grand rounds on April 2, 12-1pm. A companion art exhibition, curated by Shawn Dunwoody, will open simultaneously at Unity Gallery
If you would like to attend via Zoom or in person, pls contact Jessica:
A Thin Wall is coming to Bangalore! Bangalore Film Society in collaboration with the Indian Institute of World Culture is organizing a three day film festival from February 11 to 13, 2025 from 11am to 5pm at the Indian Institute of World Culture Auditorium, in Bangalore. The festival is non-commercial and non-ticketed, themed around celebrating pluralism, primarily aimed at inviting films that beautifully illustrate how diverse cultural, ethnic, mainstream, and indigenous identities come together to create a more inclusive and harmonious/cohesive society.
I am thrilled to announce that my film, Return to Sender, will be screened in Islamabad as part of the Margalla Film Festival on Feb 16th! It’s always an honor to present my work in Pakistan and engage with people in the Global Majority. I will give a short artist talk and we will have a convo afterwards of course. I went to high school in Islamabad so it’s an important part of my life and journey. The venue for the film festival and my screening is the Black Hole, a wonderful space that invites discussions on art, culture, science, and politics. They have already shown A Thin Wall, my film about the partition of India, so I look forward to working with them again. Thank you Osama Malik for being such a brilliant organizer and for supporting my work. Friends, if you are in Islamabad, pls join us – this event is free and open to the public!
So happy that the art exhibition ‘Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation’ is opening on Monday (tomorrow) at Unity Gallery, Dept of Neurology, University of Rochester! It’s curated by the brilliant Shawn Dunwoody
‘An art exhibition by artist Mara Ahmed, inspired by her film of the same name, features photographs and digital collages that offer deeper historical context and expand on the themes explored in both the film and the exhibition.’
There will be an Artist Reception on April 2, 2025, 1:00pm – 3:00pm Exhibit runs January 27 – April 19, 2025 Gallery Hours: M-F 11-4 For more info: theunitygallery.com
This is happening on Thursday (7pm) this week! Watch ‘Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation’ for free, on Zoom, at the Arts + Change Conference
I will give a thought-provoking intro to the film and we will also have a post-screening discussion. All you need to do is to register for the session.
It’s cold outside but we can have a vibrant community event online. Hope to see you then!
As many of my friends know, I’ve been working for a while now on ‘The Injured Body,’ a feature length documentary about racism in America inspired by Claudia Rankine’s book of poems called ‘Citizen: An American Lyric.’
Well, I’m back on the project and already have a date for the film’s premiere – November 14th at Cinema Arts Center in Huntington, NY!
For years, friends and colleagues have urged me to contact Claudia Rankine and tell her about the film. It made sense. Yet I kept procrastinating.
I am not impressed by celebrities, politicians or rich dudes, but I’ve always been starstruck by Ms. Rankine. The beauty and brilliance of her mind, the simplicity and precision of her language, the ease and lyricism with which she captures the subtleties in our day to day interactions with each other, are all extraordinary.
Now that I have a deadline and am pressed for time, I found Ms. Rankine’s email (her assistant’s to be exact) and asked if I could use some of her words as text in the film. My work is interdisciplinary and so it crosses many boundaries between art, literature, politics, and philosophical writing. ‘Citizen’ is at the heart of this film. I didn’t overthink and just sent the email along with a link to the trailer.
Today I got an email from her assistant telling me how wonderful the film sounds and saying, “Of course, Claudia is willing to have her words used in this way.” No fees. No need to contact the publisher. Just “quoted with the permission of the author.”
Are you kidding me? Is this for real? I’m so excited for this project!
Going to Lahore for three weeks in February, but one needs a lifetime to explore its rich history and culture. It was the capital of the Mughal Empire under Akbar and later, like Paris, became home to some of South Asia’s best known writers and intellectuals. They would congregate at Pak Tea House, the birthplace of the Progressive Writers’ Association and its left wing politics. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ibn-e-Insha, Ahmed Faraz, Saadat Hasan Manto, Sahir Ludhianvi, Amrita Pritam, Munshi Premchand, Krishan Chander, Ismat Chughtai, Muneer Niazi, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Habib Jalib, Kaifi Azmi, Intezar Hussain, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and many more. What would it have been like to live in Lahore in those days.
Watched a beautiful video of NCA by @maliknaveedpgotography:
Different Views of National College of Arts in Lahore
The institute was originally founded in 1876 as the Mayo School of Industrial Arts and was one of the two arts colleges established by the British in British India. It was named in honor of the British Viceroy Lord Mayo. Kipling became the school’s first principal and was also appointed as the first curator of the Lahore Museum which opened the same year in an adjacent building. In 1958, the school was renamed the National College of Arts and Mian Barkat Ali was appointed principal. [The brilliant NYC-based artist Shahzia Sikander is from NCA]
Excited that Rochester Museum & Science Center has created a map documenting their historic exhibition, Changemakers: Rochester Women Who Changed the World (in which I had the honor of being featured). This interactive map is now available as a digital interactive at RMSC on the second floor, Patricia Hale Gallery, but you can also access it online.
My location pin is near Liberty Pole by East Street, between Chestnut and Main, because of the Highfalls Film Festival. Thank you Farhana Islam for making me aware of this wonderful map <3
As we approach the end of 2024, a big shout-out to @pyaari_azaadi and her brilliant Hicksville-based project (supported by a fellowship from @huntingtonarts) which hopes to bring South Asian feminist creatives together on Long Island. It’s a powerful idea about solidarity, kinship, art, politics, language, and intent. Honored to be on this journey together – look forward to collabs and lots of fun. Here we are in Pyaari’s enchanted sunroom earlier in December <3
psyched to welcome the iconic shawn dunwoody and his beautiful wife bella to our home this morning! equally psyched to announce that we are working on a project together which will include an art exhibition and a film screening – coming up in jan and april 2025. loved how shawn asked me some provocative questions that helped define the contours of the exhibit and its central themes. an extraordinary artist and curator. thank u so much shawn and bella <3
I am flattered that the wonderful George Payne has written a beautiful piece about Muslims in America (in the form of a dialogue between two friends) and has chosen to use my film, The Muslims I Know, to structure his thesis. It’s no coincidence. In 2016, George along with my friend Judith Bello, organized a screening of The Muslims I Know at the Irondequoit Public Library. The screening (sponsored by Metro Justice Peace Action & Education, the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Rochester Chapter, and Gandhi Earth Keepers International) led to a productive discussion which could easily continue today given our present political context. Thank you George for writing so beautifully about the film. My views on/ approach to anti-Muslim racism have changed over the years, but it’s a documentary that’s very much part of my evolution as an activist filmmaker.
From George’s piece:
“Yes, the resilience is extraordinary. And I think that’s what The Muslims I Know does so well. It shows us the real, lived experiences of Muslims — not as statistics or abstractions but as full human beings with hopes, fears, families, and aspirations. It confronts us with the fact that Islamophobia is not just a political or ideological issue — it’s a deeply personal one that affects real lives. The film captures the tenderness, strength, and grace with which people navigate a world that often judges them unfairly.” More here.
