Kabul, City in the Wind

Kabul, City in the Wind

  • Friday, October 18, 8:30 PM
AGO

317 Dundas St. W, Jackman Hall
Toronto

ACCESSIBILITY

Wheelchair Accessible Venue, Open Captions

Aboozar Amini / 2018 / Dari and Pashto with English Subtitles / Netherlands, Afghanistan, Japan, Germany / 88 min

TYPE: FILM

In this subtle and beautiful documentary portrait, first time feature film director Aboozar Amini captures the everyday lives of 12-year old Afshin and his younger brother Benjamin alongside bus driver Abas. The three subjects of this subtle portrait of Kabul take us on a journey of their daily lives where war is omnipresent. Amini’s gentle camerawork gives us time to witness the intricacies of life in Kabul where dust appears as a main “character” in the film. Kabul, City in the Wind unfolds via intimate direct interviews with the subjects and observations of daily routines: in between the markets and helicopters buzzing, Abas’s bus keeps breaking down and Afshin becomes head of the household when their father, a former soldier, unexpectedly has to go to Iran. Kabul, a city that is mostly known for war and death, is presented lovingly as home for those who strive for a better tomorrow.

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Trauma & Addiction in Kabul

Kabul, City in the Wind is an intimate and heartbreaking look at families affected by war and trauma in Kabul. We will take time after the film to process and discuss our impressions and responses with guests and experts who have lived experience and who work within a trauma informed lens.

PANELISTS

Erum
Khan
Moderator
Aisha
Jamal
Panelist
Ahmad
Hematyar
President of Canadian Newcomer & Immigration Association
CO-PRESENTERS

Chaos

Chaos

  • Tuesday, October 15, 7:00 PM
AGO

317 Dundas St. W
Toronto

ACCESSIBILITY

Wheelchair Accessible Venue, Open Captions

Sara Fattahi / 2018 / Arabic and German with English Subtitles / Austria, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar / 95 min / Toronto Premiere

TYPE: FILM

Winner of the Golden Leopard Award at the 2018 Locarno Film Festival, Chaos tells the story of three women in three cities and asks: what’s the effect of war on the human spirit? As the personal stories of these Syrian women are intimately revealed, Chaos bears witness to the scarred existence of survivors. One woman lives in Damascus, spending her days in silence as she grieves for her teenage son. Another has fled the country to a Swedish village, where she’s coping with traumas by painting. The third woman is Sara Fattahi herself, Chaos’ director, who now lives in Vienna. She’s portrayed on-screen by an actor, while excerpts from a radio interview with the Austrian author Ingeborg Bachmann give expression to Fattahi’s innermost feelings. Fattahi explores the women’s immediate surroundings with equal attention to detail; interiors speak to us, the winds whisper clues and the rain is tangible. Beguiling our senses, Fattahi draws us into the processes of profound grief and inner disengagement.

 

سارة فتاحي / 2018 / بالعربية والألمانية مع ترجمة إلى الإنجليزية / النمسا ، سوريا ، لبنان ، قطر / 95 دقيقة / العرض الأول في تورونتو

 

الصنف: وثائقي

الموضوع: الهجرة ، البقاء ، الصدمة ، قضايا المرأة

النوع: فيلم

 

يروي فيلم “فوضى” الحائز على جائزة الفهد الذهبي في مهرجان لوكارنو السينمائي لعام 2018 قصة ثلاث نساء في ثلاث مدن، متساءلاّّ عن تأثير الحرب على الروح الإنسانية. بينما يتم الكشف عن القصص الشخصية لهؤلاء النساء السوريات بحميمّية، يشهد “فوضى” على وجود الناجين المجروح. تعيش امرأة في دمشق وتقضي أيامها في صمت وهي تحدّ على ابنها المراهق. امرأة أخرى هربت من البلاد إلى قرية سويدية حيث تتعامل مع الصدمة عن طريق الرسم. والمرأة الثالثة هي سارة فتاحي مخرجة الفيلم والتي تعيش الآن في فييّنا، تم تصويرها على الشاشة من قبل ممثلة بينما تعبر مقتطفات من مقابلة إذاعية مع المؤلف النمساوي إنجبورغ باخمان عن مشاعرها الأعمق. تستكشف فتاحي محيط النساء المباشر باهتمام مماثل بالتفاصيل – تتحدث إلينا البنية الداخلية للأماكن وتهمس الريح عن دلالات ويصبح المطر ملموساّّ. تقوم فتاحي بخداع حواسنا وبذلك تجذبنا إلى عمليات الحزن العميق والانسحاب الداخلي.

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Displacement and the Syrian Refugee Crisis 

How does displacement affect those living with mental health conditions and how are mental health conditions a result of displacement? As we look at the film Chaos, we will take time to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis and how this global crisis intersects with gender, mental health diagnoses and the importance of sharing these stories.

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النزوح وأزمة اللاجئين السوريين

 

كيف يؤثر النزوح على المصابين بأمراض الصحة النفسية وكيف تظهر حالات الصحة النفسية نتيجة النزوح؟ بعد أن نستعرض فيلم فوضى” سنكرّس بعض الوقت لمناقشة أزمة اللاجئين السوريين وكيف تتقاطع هذه الأزمة العالمية مع النوع الاجتماعي وتشخيصات الصحة النفسية وأهمية مشاركة القصص المتعلقة بها.

Aisha
Jamal
Moderator
Erum
Hasan
Panelist
Kinana
Issa
Panelist
CO-PRESENTERS
Savac

M

M

  • Thursday, October 17, 7:00 PM
AGO

317 Dundas St. W
Toronto

ACCESSIBILITY

Wheelchair Accessible Venue, Open Captions

Yolande Zauberman / 2018 / Yiddish, Hebrew, English with English Subtitles / France / 115 min / Ontario Premiere

TYPE: FILM

Menahem Lang is an Israeli actor with a tragic past. He was raped as a child by several older men from his own community. Lang grew up in the Haredi sect, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community known for its theological conservatism. After confronting one of his abusers, Lang left his hometown of Bnei Brak and hasn’t been back until now. In M, Lang returns to face his community, his trauma and to seek justice. But more than anything, Lang ends up finding other survivors. Shooting her film entirely at night, director Yolande Zauberman follows Lang as he runs into multiple strangers on the streets of his old neighborhood where they all confess the same thing – they were also sexually abused as children by older men in the community. Through many candid interviews in M we learn that child molestation is rampant in their community, turning the abused into abusers in a vicious circle of sexual violence.

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Extended Panel: Childhood Sexual Abuse & Recovery 

Join us for an extended discussion following the screening of the documentary M, as we are joined by specialists who work in trauma informed care, childhood sexual abuse and sexuality studies. We will sensitively discuss the realities and impacts of (early) sexual abuse, the complexities of finding treatment and the journey of recovery in the context of observant communities as well as in more secular contexts.

PANELISTS

Scott
Miller Berry
Moderator
James
Cantor
Psychologist and sex researcher
Naomi
Levine
Social Worker at Jewish Family & Child
CO-PRESENTER

In Search...

In Search...

  • Saturday, October 12, 6:00 PM
AGO

317 Dundas St. W
Toronto

ACCESSIBILITY

Wheelchair Accessible Venue, Open Captions

Beryl Magoko / 2018 / German and Swahili with English Subtitles / Germany, Kenya / 90 min / Toronto Premiere

TYPE: FILM

Director Beryl Magoko underwent Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a child. Unlike many of her peers, she wasn’t forced into it. Feeling pressured by societal expectations, Beryl went through FGM behind her mother’s back. Nobody told her about the pain, guilt and trauma that would follow her into adulthood. Years later, Beryl learns that her FGM can be reversed with the help of reconstructive surgery. But after everything she has been through, she’s hesitant to make a decision. “Will I be making another terrible mistake?” In her documentary account, Beryl is searching for an answer. She asks other women who survived FGM about their experiences and thoughts on reconstructive surgery. By frontlining these stories, Beryl processes her trauma and exposes the extreme misogynist ideologies behind FGM.

 

Screening with

This River
Erika MacPherson, Katherena Vermette | 2016 | Canada | 19 min

Kyle Kematch and award-winning writer Katherena Vermette offer an Indigenous perspective on the devastating experience of searching for loved ones who have disappeared. Born out of the need to do something, their stories ignite a relationship between resilience and activism.

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Q&A with Beryl Magoko

Following the screening of In Search…, join the filmmaker (who is also the subject of the documentary) Beryl Magoko as she discusses working on the film which recounts her journey with reconstructive surgery after surviving Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a child.

PANELISTS

Danielle
Jacobson
Moderator
Beryl
Magoko
Filmmaker
CO-PRESENTER

My Soul Drifts Light upon a Sea of Trees

My Soul Drifts Light upon a Sea of Trees

  • Saturday, October 12, 8:30 PM
AGO

317 Dundas St. W
Toronto

ACCESSIBILITY

Wheelchair Accessible Venue, ASL Interpreted, Open Captions

Heinrich Dahms / 2018 / Japanese with English Subtitles / Netherlands, Japan / 93 min / North American Premiere

TOPIC: SUICIDE, TRAUMA

TYPE: FILM

After losing an uncle and two friends to suicide, Zen Buddhist Ittetsu Nemoto made it his life’s work to support individuals struggling with depression and suicidal ideation. Despite cultural taboos from a temple in the high mountains of central Japan, Ittetsu Nemoto takes a community-focused, holistic approach to healing trauma. My Soul Drifts Light Upon a Sea of Trees inscribes the journey and mission of Nemoto as he helps three people find life after limbo. As each person candidly reveals their story of what the edge of life felt like, a therapeutic effect transfixes the audience. With this remarkable film, a quiet plea for a radical shift in the way we think about suicide is heard.

Screening with

Ancestral Mindscapes
Rick Miller | 2019 | Canada | 15 mins | World Premiere

From the traditional territories of the Micmac Nation of Gespeg to the small town of Gaspé, Québec, director Rick Miller reveals to the audience his family’s lineage and how it has defined and illuminated his relationship with mental health.

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My Soul Drifts with Ittetsu Nemoto

Join us for a discussion with the subject of My Soul Drifts Light Upon a Sea of Trees. Internationally known Buddhist priest Ittetsu Nemoto will be joining us via Skype to talk about his life’s mission to provide space and time for those who live with depression. 

PANELISTS

Yukiko
Konomi
Moderator
Ittetsu
Nemoto
Film subject
CO-PRESENTERS

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