Much has been said about the democratising impact of digital media, yet perhaps not a lot with regards to the Arab world. In this region videos are emerging in a landscape saturated with fabricated images, and in which the means of fabrication and dissemination seem to be the exclusive monopoly either of those in control of the public sphere or those in control of the market. With respect to the current historical and political situation of the Arab world, video and film practice is often perceived as one of the sharpest and most striking political acts. The selection of works in this programme attempts to illustrate the various ways in which digital media are used to subvert genres and challenge dominant media emissions in situations of political crises or violence. Streaming videos on the net is yet another story. The online platform Arabshorts.net is a pioneering experiment on many levels and will be presented and discussed as part of this programme.

The Poster, Samer Barkawi, sy 2008, 4min
Red, Green and Black Indians, Sobhi al-Zobeidi, ps 2007, 1min
We Will Win, Mahmoud Hojeij, lb 2007, 8min
Faces Applauding Alone, Ahmad Ghossein, lb 2008, 7min
Straight Stories – Part 1, Bouchra Khalili, ma/fr/es, 2006, 10min
Transit, Taysir Batnji, ps/fr, 2004, 8min
Lebanon / War (Lebanon Slash War), Rania Stephan, lb 2006, 30min

Text by curator Rasha Salti who will be present at the screening.

In cooperation with Arabshorts.net