Jamal (1981), Pescados / Fish (2010), Citadel (2021), Lizards: Episode 1 (2020)
Barki, Bennani, Martel, Shaddad

Jamal (1981), Ibrahim Shaddad
This short film is a report from the life of a camel, most of which plays out in a dreary, small room – a sesame mill. Ibrahim Shaddad, founding member of the Sudanese Film Group.
Ibrahim Shaddad, born in Halfa, Sudan in 1945, studied filmmaking at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf (at that time Academy for Film and Television of the GDR). Over the course of his career, he has made many medium length and short films. Several of his projects have been banned by the various governments in Sudan. He spent years in exile in Egypt and Canada before returning to Sudan.

Pescados / Fish (2010), Lucrecia Martel
A beguilling short film that absurdly wonders what fish’s dreams are made of through a pool of carp who dream of driving in a car in the rain.
Lucrecia Martel (1966) is a director and scriptwriter from northern Argentina. Her four feature films, two of which were part of Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival, have been awarded by international film festivals and acclaimed by critics, positioning her as one of the most relevant Latin American filmmakers of the 21st century.

Citadel (2021), John Smith
Incisive and playful, filmed from the artist’s window during lockdown, Citadel combines short fragments from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s speeches relating to COVID-19 with views of the London skyline.
John Smith (born 1952, Walthamstow, England) is an award-winning avant-garde filmmaker. Inspired in his formative years by conceptual art and structural film, but also fascinated by the immersive power of narrative and the spoken word, Smith has developed a diverse body of work which blurs the perceived boundaries between documentary and fiction, playfully exploring and exposing the language of cinema. He lives and works in London and is Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at University of East London.

Lizards: Episode 1 (2020), Orian Barki & Meriam Bennani
2 Lizards depicts a surrealist view of the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolded in New York City. Originally released as an eight-part episodic series on Bennani’s Instagram account, 2 Lizards has since been screened at the Whitney as a narrative film.
Meriem Bennani was born in 1988, in Rabat, Morocco and today lives and works in New York City, New York. Moving between the aesthetics of reality television, documentary, animation and more, Bennani’s videos and installations embrace play and the absurd, while contemplating the intricacies of human behavior.

Orian Barki is a documentary filmmaker. She grew up in Israel, where she started her work directing and editing films that were broadcasted on Israeli TV. She moved to NY where she is Currently based. Barki is interested in coming of age stories and youth culture. Her style is raw and personal.