What does it mean to represent history visually? What happens when we throw off the burden of language and discourse, turning instead to the outside world, which bears the physical traces of its past and speaks directly of the human tragedies to which it is testimony? Max Francos’ accomplished film bypasses the traditional documentary form and constructs a historical narrative entirely without words. Nakba (meaning 'catastrophe' or 'disaster' in Arabic) refers to the diaspora of 1948 in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes during the Palestine war and the creation of the state of Israel. The deserted landscapes and decaying, abandoned buildings become a memorial ground for these events, leading the viewer towards a gradual understanding of this tragic event in Palestinian history.

Screening with:

All the House (Haditha Massacre), Part 3 of Flicker On Off

• Caroline Koebel /
• USA /
• 2008 /
• 6 mins

Imad recounts her family's slaughter by US Marines in Iraq, intercut with scenes from The Godfather III.

Director: Caroline Koebel

In Transit

• Lida Abdul /
• Austria, Afghanistan /
• 2008 /
• 5 mins

Children on the outskirts of Kabul play innocently with the abandoned carcasses of warplanes.

Director: Lida Abdul
Producer: Lida Abdul
Editor: Lida Abdul
DoP: Lida Abdul

Infamy

• Hassan Said /
• USA /
• 2009 /
• 5 mins

Hand-painted film attempting to render intense visceral responses to the 9/11 attacks through abstract forms.

Director: Hassan Said
Producer: Hassan Said
Scriptwriter: Hassan Said
Editor: Hassan Said
Sound Production: Hassan Said
Music: Nic DeMatteo

Sunroof (Benazir Bhutto Assassination), Part 2 of Flicker On Off

• Caroline Koebel /
• USA /
• 2008 /
• 6 mins

Stunning collage of news reports, interspersed with sections of the Coen brothers’ Miller’s Crossing.

Director: Caroline Koebel

Vita

• Gabriele Schwark /
• Germany /
• 2008 /
• 9 mins

Pivotal moments in German political history structured entirely through photographs and animated drawings

Director: Gabriele Schwark
Producer: Dieter Reifarth
Scriptwriter: Gabriele Schwark
Editor: Gabriele Schwark
Sound Production: Bierre Brand
Music: Jutta Hoppe