what an amazing day! woke up early to interview the splendid susan abulhawa who was in rochester to kick off the witness palestine film festival. got to work with rajesh barnabas. later in the afternoon went to nazareth college to rehearse our multimedia piece about racism that’s coming up at the rochester fringe festival on sept 17 at 5pm. got to witness mariko yamada’s wonderful choreography and met three beautiful dancers. finally, went to MuCCC and figured out the technical side of things. the show promises to be awesome – it’s political, edgy, multimedia. get ur tickets now 🙂
Category: projects
Witness Palestine series branches out in sixth year
Adam Lubitow: The Witness Palestine Film Festival, back for a sixth year, continues its mission to spotlight the human rights issues at the heart of the decades-spanning conflict between Palestine and Israel. Along with the annual film series (which runs through the beginning of October), this year’s festival branches out with a multidisciplinary program of events that kicks off this weekend with a talk by keynote speaker, novelist, essayist, and poet Susan Abulhawa on Sunday, September 10, at 2 pm. Admission to the lecture is free.
Also scheduled is a staged reading of the play “There is a Field,” which will be performed as part of the upcoming Rochester Fringe Festival on Thursday, September 14, 9 p.m., and Thursday, September 28, 7:30 p.m., at MuCCC (142 Atlantic Avenue). Tickets are $10.
This year’s Witness Palestine event also adds an art exhibition to the mix, “Bethlehem Beyond the Wall,” which will be on display from October 1 through October 14 in Lorette Wilmot Library Lobby at Nazareth College (4245 East Avenue). Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day.
The lineup of films gets off to a strong start with the crowd-pleasing musical drama “Junction 48.”
More here.
Other Echoes – An Introduction
Working with Mariko Yamada on producing a piece about racism that incorporates both film and dance. Starting to see a structure emerge and super excited to film two dancers at RCTV with Rajesh Barnabas soon. This short piece will be entitled “Other Echoes – An Introduction” and will be performed at MuCCC, for the Fringe Festival 2017, on Sept 17th at 5pm. Stay tuned 🙂
shooting for my new film begins
today we shot the first interview for my new film on racism in america. talked to a brilliant young muslim woman who’s studying whilst also working with refugees. she herself is a refugee from somalia who moved to the US in 2004. thx rajesh barnabas and arleen thaler for being my collaborators on this project. couldn’t ask for more talented or upstanding people ♥
an important busy time
it’s been a busy few days. on saturday, i took the kids to rochester’s main cultural attractions and we roamed around in the neighborhood of the arts. on sunday, we took zooz to canandaigua lake and had lunch at bristol harbor while we enjoyed a beautiful view of the lake. later that evening, i was honored to speak at a rally in solidarity with charlottesville, in washington square park, and feel the solidarity with activist friends and our community at large. over the weekend, zooz made us some delicious shakshuka – so much more delectable than the thick-tomato-soupy shakshuka i’ve had in restaurants here. reminded me of the delicious breakfast my dear friend Nihal cooked for me when i visited her in amsterdam. on monday, i met with two spectacular artists whom i’m looking to collaborate with – a brilliant dance choreographer and photographer. such talent in this city! i made sindhi biryani for zooz and we compared notes on how it’s similar to/different from iraqi biryani. today, zooz left for washington dc. the iraqi young leaders (IYLEP) will be there for a week and then they will be off to turkey, followed by iraq. we will miss zooz so much. she has become part of our family. it’s good to know what a global family we have and it’s good to have an important reason to visit iraq 🙂
Rally in Solidarity with Charlottesville
I had the honor to speak at the Rally in Solidarity with Charlottesville at Washington Square Park tonight – honored because I got to speak alongside Ashley, Banke, Christopher and Melanie.
IYLEP is over but more rochester first
IYLEP kids (iraqi young leaders exchange program) finished their 2 week program yesterday and got their certificates. today? high falls, george eastman house, starry nites, MAG and village gate. the day ended with some ice cream at tom wahl’s 🙂
wonderful work news
two amazing pieces of news: first, A Thin Wall has been selected by the Mustard Seed Film Festival and will be screened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on sunday aug 20th at 10:30am. second, i submitted a proposal for creating a multimedia performance that would be a collaboration between filmmaking and dance choreography, the theme being rooted in social justice issues. the proposal got accepted and i will now be working with a dance choreographer to create a performance for the upcoming fringe fest. we’ll use interviews from my new film on racism in america. a dream come true!
pittsford library and mutanabbi street
yesterday, after dinner, we took zahraa to pittsford dairy for some ice cream and then walked around schoen place. she told me how the smell of the trees, late in the evening, reminded her of the parks in baghdad. we showed her the pittsford library and she told us about mutanabbi street, located in baghdad’s old quarter, filled with book stores and book stalls and named after the great arab poet, al-mutanabbi, who was born in kufa (iraq) in the 10th century. later zahraa showed me pictures of sulaymaniyah in the northern kurdish region of iraq. she and her family had vacationed there over the summer. we also talked about basra, a city known to me through its frequent mention in islamic history, literature and folklore. it’s located in the south of iraq. she told me about shatt al-arab, a river formed in basra, by the confluence of the euphrates and tigris, which eventually empties itself into the arabian gulf. this part of iraq has one of the largest date palm forests in the world, zahraa shared with us as we ate dates covered in belgian chocolate and stuffed with almonds 🙂
symposium on women and gender in religions
on monday july 31st, i attended a symposium on “women and gender in religions” at naz. got to engage with some interesting papers and discussions. here’s one.
hussam timani (christopher newport university) talked about “the feminine in the quran: reading mary in light of adam” and described mary’s pure nature and absolute obedience to god, qualities that endow her with angelic traits.
mary (maryam in arabic – the only woman identified by name in the quran) is considered “muharrara” or free from the taints of wordly associations. she devotes herself to god by secluding herself in the temple. her story is full of miracles including the birth of her son jesus.
the great sufi scholar, ibn arabi, considered mary the prototype of all mystics. as the mother of the one who sought union with god, she becomes a perfect human being and the manifestation of divine love.
adam, on the other hand, has a lower soul. he is disobedient, inconsistent. obedience is considered a higher virtue than monotheism. obedience is a choice whereas monotheism is understood to exist naturally in human beings.
there is a “hijab” or veil that protects mary and her son from satan’s corruption, while satan has access to adam.
dr timani sees mary as being a bridge between christians and muslims. he ended his talk with the need to recognize, acknowledge and pay attention to contemporary embodiments of mary.
i had some questions about mary’s free will as described in this paper. is obedience to god simply her nature (is she stripped of agency) or is that her choice? since mary is being compared to adam, i guess that their volition must be equally operative.
obedience itself is problematic for me but then i thought about how we are talking about obedience to god and conceptions of justice, mercy, beneficence and love. not that different from the reasoning behind social justice movements.
i find mary to be a powerful icon. during our travels to mexico, not only did we find mary’s presence (as our lady of guadalupe) to be ubiquitous, we also learned how some indigenous religions have absorbed the figure of mary and reconfigured it as the goddess of fertility. fascinating.
leadership program for iraqi youth
our wonderful iraqi student is here. today’s the first day of the leadership program at allendale columbia in which my daughter is also participating. saw some beautiful pictures of baghdad last night and learned how the city is divided by the river tigris into an eastern half (rusafa) and a western half (al karkh). also discussed the differences between pakistani and iraqi biryani and what’s considered the ultimate breakfast in both countries: kahi and geymar in iraq (flaky pastry soaked in syrup and served with cream derived from buffalo milk) and a rich omelette with onions and tomatoes served with paratha in pakistan (crispy, layered, shallowly fried flatbread). so many deep and distinct and vibrant histories, cultures and peoples in asia.
54th Annual ISNA Convention
The Muslims I Know will be screened on July 1st at the 54th Annual ISNA Convention in Chicago. The film was screened back in 2008 or 2009, soon after it came out, in DC. ISNA wanted to screen it again this year. Pls attend if u’re in the area.
Witness Palestine Film Festival 2017
Witness Palestine Film Festival this year: kick-off event with writer and activist Susan Abulhawa, films at The Little Theatre and at St. John Fisher College, and a play at the Rochester Fringe Festival!
The Muslims I Know at the Dharma Refuge
Today I led a discussion after the screening of The Muslims I Know at the Dharma Refuge. It was one of the most effortless post-screening Q&As I’ve ever done: 1) because I felt accepted and the questions were more a way to engage rather than confront and challenge, and 2) because it was a surprisingly woke audience that understood the mechanics of racism and American foreign policy. This was the first screening I did since a 17-year old, beautiful Muslim kid was beaten to death with a metal bat in VA. I couldn’t discuss it in any detail – it makes me too emotional. But it was lovely to be embraced by people who were as shocked, heartbroken and angered as I. Thank u Sue Gaile for organizing everything and for the gorgeous flowers and thx to my friend Milo Lomi for being there – wish we had taken this picture earlier, before you left!
equality rally for unity and pride in rochester
yesterday i had the honor to speak at the equality rally for unity and pride here in rochester – beautiful rally on a gorgeous day! photographs by sarita arden.
