Friday, April 12, 2024 / 2:30PM EDT / Innis Town Hall / 2 Sussex Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 1J5

In this time of heightened war and unfolding genocide, the role of the witness remains at the forefront of our collective attention. Daily incursions on Palestinian civilians are live streamed direct to screens, held in our hands. As Ariella Azoulay writes in the Civil Contract of Photography, viewing images of such catastrophic circumstances becomes a civil act. The role of the witness affirms the citizenship of those who have been denied their place; to witness serves as an affirmation of life and inherent human value.

While the act of witnessing remains necessary, the role of beauty holds a tender, easily overlooked yet crucial position. We must find refuge to support the flickering fires of hope, not only for those in most dire need but also for weary witnesses, relentless activists, and allies in joint struggles across the globe.

In the late Palestinian author Mahmoud Darwish’ poem “On This Land,” he writes of the valiant and steadfast love of land, cultural endurance, and the “tyrant’s fear of songs.” The Tyrant's Fear of Songs short film program presents works by international filmmakers who experiment with dreams, poetry, and beauty to address our social and civil contracts to one another as we battle systems of tyranny.

These short films reflect fractured and layered settler/colonial histories carried on land and bodies. They traverse time, genre, and narrative style. Reflecting on past and present histories of slavery, occupation, and indentured labour, as well as musings on our real and virtual dystopian worlds, these works are united through their lessons for resistance. The spectral horrors of domination are transformed into songs of fortitude and communion, offering rejuvenating sustenance for the long struggle ahead.

SUNDAY, MARCH 24 / 7:00 PM / OTTAWA ART GALLERY

Program: We Would Be Freer, A Happy Day

Reception: 9:00 PM

SHORT FILM \

We Would Be Freer

بنكون اكتر احرار

2023 / 9 minutes / Ottawa / Director: Rana Nazzal Hamadeh / Languages: English, Arabic

On different sides of the world, two communities find connection through their use of sumac. Mimicking the progression of the plant’s flowers from yellow to green to red, We Would Be Freer is a cyclical reflection on connection to land, sustainability, and wild plants.

FEATURE \

A Happy Day

2023 / 113 minutes / Norway, Denmark / Director: Hisham Zaman/ Languages: Norwegian, Sámi / Subtitles: English

Vines Art Festival is based on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl ̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam) Nations. These are lands that, like Palestine, have been deeply impacted by settler colonial violence. We emphasize our solidarity with Palestinians through sharing an intergenerational program that uses movement, music, and storytelling as a means to challenge settler colonial narratives while reclaiming roots and place. An in-person event at grunt gallery will feature a shortened film screening, panel discussion, and additional films by Rana Nazzal. The full program featuring Edzi’u, Jamelie Hassan, Hamidreza Jadid, Eddy van Wyk, Tʼuyʼtʼtanat-Cease Wyss, Sobhi Zobaidi, and Alize Zorlutuna, will be available to screen online from Dec 6–10.

Film screening and discussion: VIVO Media Arts Centre is hosting from the river to the sea, a global collective initiative established by a group of displaced media artists and activists all in solidarity with Palestine.

Their third screening is a short film screening where they bring four short films, directed by Rehab Nazzal, Rana Nazzal, Mohammad Harb and Razan AlSalah to you. Join us for this event taking place on December 2nd, in support and solidarity with Palestinians. Followed by a conversation with artist and filmmaker Razan AlSalah.

Truth, Power, and Palestine: A Teach-In to Build Solidarity is a multi-institution, in-person event bringing together poets, activists, students and scholars to build solidarity with Palestine in the face of grief and despair. In the current climate of fear, criminalization and censorship, how do we understand the interconnectedness of settler colonial violence in Canada and in Palestine? How do we sustain momentum and movements in support of Palestinian community members and take action locally? This event aims to encourage collaborative work across communities to support Palestinians in their on-going struggle for justice.

We would be freer premieres at Toronto Palestine Film Festival as part of the Home Grown Shorts line-up

In-theatre: 6:00 PM at TIFF BELL LIGHT BOX Toronto ON

Online Launch: 6:00 PM World-Wide (available for on-demand viewing from the theatre launch date until Oct. 4, 11:59pm)

Films: a tangled web drowning in honey | Baq'a The Open Valley | we would be freer | I Feel Uncomfortable on the Balcony | Listed | In Her Shoes

10AM PDT / 1PM EDT / 8PM PALESTINE

Excited to be co-hosting this event on Palestinian Prisoners Day. We’ll hear from former Palestinian prisoners and artists that attribute their work to the Palestinian struggle: Chris Gazaleh, Rana Bishara, Mustafa Sheta, and Clarissa Bitar.

To register click here.

Saturday, March 26th

10AM EST / 3PM GMT / 5PM Palestine

On this day, we will be joined by artists from around the world centering art and culture as critical arenas of our collective resistance to Israeli apartheid and all forms of racism and oppression. From dance, to music, to poetry, the rally will highlight the critical role that culture and art play in decolonizing our minds.

This rally comes as part of the Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), which over the last 18 years has propelled discussion of Israeli apartheid and organizing for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns into the popular narrative in order to help bring an end to this crime against humanity.

To register for the online rally click here.

1pm EST on Zoom.

Join Rana Nazzal Hamadeh in conversation with Dr. Chandni Desai, Assistant Professor in the Critical Studies of Equity and Solidarity at the University of Toronto, about the multimedia exhibition 1/1000th of a Dunam

Register here.