Hidden Civil War: WE: A Film Forum
WE: A Film Forum presented a series of screenings and discussions over one weekend, with a particular focus on the cultural impact of migration and investigating the capacity of individuals and communities to shape society.
The selection of five films, with a complementary series of discussions, kicked off on Friday 21 October 2016 with Jumana Manna‘s A Magical Substance Flows Into Me, a journey into the contested musical history of Palestine through the work of ethnomusicologist and German-Jewish refugee, Robert Lachmann, detailing his radio broadcasts from Jerusalem in the 1930s.
On Saturday the 22nd October 2016 we looked at themes of migration, refuge and asylum, first with a film by locally based artist Isabel Lima, followed by the internationally acclaimed Brûle la Mer (Burn the Sea) by French filmmaker Nathalie Nambot and Tunisian refugee Maki Berchache, detailing the reality of migration from North Africa to Europe in the wake of the Arab Spring.
The last day of WE: A Film Forum examined a historical dialogue of power and collective resistance seen in Britain today – through representations of land and the human body itself in artist films by James Holcombe, Rosalind Fowler and Hands On Film Lab Artist in Residence Kate Liston.
The 2016 programme was as follows:
Friday 21 October
Jumana Mana – A Magical Substance Flows Into Me (68 mins)
Sat 22 October
Isabel Lima- Broken Chords Can Sing A Little – Episode 1: The Birds (2015)
Nathalie Nambot, Maki Berchache – Brule La Mer
Sunday 23 October
Artist Short Films – including work from Hands On Film’s Artist in Residence, Kate Liston, and Rosalind Fowler’s Nowhere-Somewhere
James Holcombe – Tyburnia (2016) 60 mins
Read the full Hidden Civil War programme here:
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WE: A Film Forum was programmed by Hands on Film Lab and delivered in association with Culture Kitchen and Cobalt Studios for Hidden Civil War.
Hands on Film Lab is a female run and facilitated film-lab based in The NewBridge Project. The lab is dedicated to the transmission of knowledge in photochemical film practice. Hands On Film are excited to showcase new work by their first artist in residence in the WE programme. www.handsonfilm.org
Hidden Civil War was a month long programme of events and exhibitions across Newcastle upon Tyne that exposed, collated and presented evidence of a Hidden Civil War in Britain today. Hidden Civil War, a collaborative project, commissioned by The NewBridge Project and developed in partnership with East St Arts, Hands on Film Lab, Metal, Paper Rhino, Mark Donne, Taryn Edmonds, Chris Erskine, Julia Heslop, Beth Ramsay, Julie Tomlin, Vicky Ward and Aisha Zia. Hidden Civil War was delivered with the support of partner venues; Cobalt Studios, Tyne Theatre, Summerhill Bowling Club and The Cumberland Arms. Accompanying publication, The Precariat is produced by Paper Rhino.
Image: Jumana Mana – A Magical Substance Flows Into Me
