Salon Marie Rose: Queer Arabs in Exile
2022-11-05 15:00 - 22:00 (Europe/Oslo) | Melahuset, Mariboes gate 8, Oslo, 0183, Norway
English
العربي
English
Welcome to Salon Marie Rose: Queer Arabs in Exile, a day including a pop-up library, films on loop, finger food, poetry and readings hosted by Frida Marida and ending with a stand-up comedy show with Shaden (comedy show in Arabic only). Salon Marie Rose is taking place at Melahuset on Saturday 5 November from 15.00 to 22.00.
A queer Arab exilic pop-up social gathering space in Oslo, Salon Marie Rose is commemorating the memory of the beautiful and mountainous queer artist, poet and writer Etel Adnan (1925-2021) who passed away in November 2021, and takes its inspiration from her novel about the Lebanese civil war “Sitt Marie Rose”.
Adnan’s composite and diasporic identities that include Greek and Syrian parents, Lebanese upbringing, American and French exiles has been a towerting inspiration for queer Arab arts and literature for more than five decades. Adnan’s multidisciplinary practice, emancipatory and whimsical in form and content, coupled with her cosmopolitan national and gender identities provide a prismatic backdrop for Salon Marie Rose as a queer Arab exilic pop-up social gathering space in Oslo.
العربي
نرحب بكم في صالون ماري روز: مساحة كويرية في المنفى. نلتقي خلال يوم كامل مع مكتبة مؤقتة، عروض أفلام، قراءات وشعر ومأكولات خفيفة. تستضيف الصالون فريدا مريضة وتنتهي الأمسية بعرض كوميدي لشادن. (العرض ستاند آب كوميدي بالعربي فقط).
نلتقي في صالون ماري روز يوم السبت 5 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني في ميلا هوسيه من الساعة 3 عصراً حتى الساعة 10 مساءً.

يحتفي صالون ماري روز بذكرى الفنانة والشاعرة والكاتبة الجميلة إيتيل عدنان (1925-2021) التي رحلت عن عالمنا في نوفمبر الماضي، ويستوحي الصالون اسمه من رواية عدنان عن الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية “ست ماري روز”.
شكلت حياة ايتيل عدنان المنطوية على عدة هويات مركبة من أبوين من أصول سورية ويونانية، وتنشئتها في لبنان ومن ثم حياتها في المنفى في فرنسا وأمريكا، مصدر إلهام للفن والأدب العربي الكويري على مدى العقود الخمسة المنصرمة. يتكئ صالون ماري روز على إرث إيتيل عدنان الفني التحرري وغير المألوف في الشكل والمضمون ويستوحي من هوياتها الجندرية والقومية المتعددة محاولة لخلق مساحة ثقافية واجتماعية في المنفى للالتقاء والتعارف والنقاش.
Program
البرنامج
Program
Program
Salon Marie Rose (matiné)
FREE entry – Language: English and Arabic

15.00: Salon Marie Rose is open
15.00-18.00: Mingling & a pop-up library & films on loop with possibility of buying books by and about queer arabs curated for this event

Salon Marie Rose (soirée)
Get ticket – Language: English and Arabic

18.00: Opening by Frida Marida & serving finger food
18.15-18.45: Poetry reading in memory of Etel Adnan reading by Rana Issa, Hanna Asefaw, Raphael Amahl Khouri and Suneela Mubayi.
19.00-19.50: Film screening: Ismyrna (2016, 50 min) Directed by Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige
20.30-21.45: Stand-up comedy show with Shaden (in Arabic only)

After six sold-out shows in Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam and more than 80 sold-out shows in Beirut, Shaden will be performing her latest special _All Hell Broke Loose_ in Oslo for the first time ever at Melahuset on Saturday, 5. November!
البرنامج
البرنامج——–صالون ماري روز (ماتينيه)الدخول مجانياللغة: عربي وانكليزيالساعة 15.00: يفتح صالون ماري روزالساعة 15.00-18.00: صالون ماري روز مفتوح للزيارة ومشاهدة عدة أفلام معروضة على مدار الساعة، وزيارة مكتبة مؤقتة مع إمكانية شراء كتب كويرية عربية تم انتقاؤها لهذه المناسبة صالون ماري روز (سواريه)لشراء البطاقةاللغة: عربي وانكليزيالساعة 18.00: فريدا مريضة تفتتح صالون ماري روز سواريهالساعة 18.15-18.45: قراءات وأشعار في ذكرى إيتيل عدنان من قبل رنا عيسى، سونيلا موباي، ورافايل خوريالساعة 19.00-19.50: عرض الفيلم الوثائقي سميرنا (2016، 50 دقيقة)الساعة 20.30-21.45: عرض كوميدي بالعربي مع شادن (اللغة: عربي)
شادن ستقدم عرض الستاند أب كوميدي «لقد انتا* الوضع كلياً» في أوسلو لأول مرة يوم السبت 5 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني في ميلاهوسيه!
قدمت شادن هذا العرض مع أوكوورد كوميدي في بيروت في أكثر من 80 عرضاً تم بيع بطاقاتهم بالكامل في العام الجاري. بالإضافة إلى جولتها الأوروبية الحديثة على مدار ستة عروض تم بيعها بالكامل في برلين وباريس وأمستردام.
See less
Film program during Salon Marie Rose
Films on loop during Salon Marie Rose (matiné)
Marco (2019, 22′)
Marco (2019, 22′)
Directed by Saleem Haddad
Language: English & ArabicSubtitles: English
Omar has been living in London for a decade. He spends his days working in the City, and his nights ignoring phone calls from his family back in Lebanon. One evening, restless after another pleading voicemail from his mother, he invites over Marco, a Spanish student newly-arrived in London, who’s doing sex work to earn some extra cash. But when Marco arrives, Omar can’t shake the feeling that something’s not quite right about the young man. As their night together progresses truths are revealed, defences are lowered, and Omar discovers the lengths that Marco has gone to to arrive in London.
Run(a)way Arab (2018, 12′)
Runaway Arab (2018, 12′)
Directed by Amrou Al-Kadhi
Language: Arabic
Subtitle: English
NAZEEM is a 26 year old Middle Eastern drag queen who names herself QUEEN ZA DREAM – she is preparing for a show with the utmost gravity, with an outfit evocative of an Egyptian deity.Interwoven with this is the story of NAZEEM as a genderqueer 8 year-old boy, and the close bond he has with his Iraqi-Egyptian mother, HALIMA. Whilst flamboyant and in many ways a drag queen herself on the surface, HALIMA is governed by the strict expectations of gender in Arab society.When a young NAZEEM transgresses these boundaries, HALIMA reacts in a way that is utterly confusing to him. Only though his drag, is the adult NAZEEM able to keep sacred the memories of his mother before this painful moment, and hold on to their connection.
Another Dream (2019, immersive)
Directed by: Tamara Shogaolu
Another Dream, a hybrid animated documentary and VR game, brings the gripping, true love story of an Egyptian lesbian couple to life. Faced with a post-revolution backlash against the LGBTQ community, they escape Cairo to seek asylum and acceptance in the Netherlands.
Film screening during Salon Marie Rose (soirée)
ISMYRNA (2016, 50′)
Ismyrna (2016, 50)
Lebanon/France/UAE 2016Directed by Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil JoreigeLanguage: FrenchSubtitles: English
Joana met the artist and poet Etel Adnan at the end of the 1990s. They quickly grew close, bound by links to a city they had never been to: Smyrna formerly, Izmir today. Joana’s paternal Greek family were forced into exile from Smyrna by the Turkish armies after the end of the Ottoman Empire. Etel’s Greek mother, was born in Smyrna, married to a Syrian officer of the Ottoman Army and exiled to Lebanon after the fall of the empire. Etel and Joana lived in an imaginary Smyrna, today Izmir, without ever setting foot there. At present, both find themselves engaged in questions around the transmission of history, and interrogate their attachment to objects, places, the constructions of imaginaries and mythologies without images. Their personal experiences, their stories serve as a background to the region’s changes after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the evolution of the borders questionning the notion of identity and belonging.

Tickets

Salon Marie Rose is a project by Masahat for Arab Culture in Exile, in collaboration with Skeiv Verden, Oslo World and Melahuset.
Guests الضيوف

Reclaiming History
2023-09-22 17:00 - 20:30 | Deichman Bjørvika, Oslo, 0150
انضموا إلينا يوم الجمعة 22 سبتمبر/أيلول في ثاني أيام مهرجان مساحات لأمسية ممتعة في مكتبة دايكمان بيورفيكا نناقش فيها الحق في استعادة التاريخ، وسياسات الأرشيف في مصر والنرويج.
Join us on Friday 22 September, the second day of Masahat festival, for an insightful & inspiring evening at Deichman Bjørvika to talk about the right to history, archives, and heritage politics from Egypt and Norway.
البرنامج
17:00 – 18:45 عرض فيلم سلطة بلدي إخراج ناديا كامل (2008, 105′)
19:00 – 19:30 محاضرة: استعادة التاريخ: الشعب، السلطة والأرشيف مع خالد فهمي
19:30 – 20:30 نقاش: خالد فهمي مع ميشيل تيسدل، تدير الحوار رنا عيسى
Program
17:00 – 18:45 Film screening: “Salata baladi” (Egyptian salad) dir. Nadia Kamel (2008, 105′)
19:00 – 19:30 Lecture: “Reclaiming History: People, Power, and Archives” with Khaled Fahmy
19:30 – 20:30 Discussion: Khaled Fahmy and Michelle A. Tisdel led by Rana Issa
اللغة: انكليزية
الدخول مجاني، ولكن يتطلب التسجيل مسبقاً للحصول على بطاقة
هذه الأمسية بالتعاون مع مكتبة دايكمان بيورفيكا ومركز الدراسات الإسلامية والشرق أوسطية في جامعة أوسلو.
Language: English
Free entry, but registration required.
This event is in collaboration with Deichman Bjørvika and the Centre for Islamic and Middle East Studies, UiO
Reserve your free ticket | لحجز البطاقات المجانية
When people move to a new country, they bring their home country’s history with them. But what history is that, and how well do you really know those who came before you? Masahat invites you to take a deep dive into history writing and the struggle to own your own, everyday history. Are you sure you actually know the whole story?
LECTURE: “RECLAIMING HISTORY: PEOPLE, POWER, AND ARCHIVES” WITH KHALED FAHMY
How do you take ownership of your own history after being written out of it for generations? In Norway, we have tried to find out how we can democratize history writing and cultural heritage policy to include diverse stories where the majority and minority populations are represented. Whether we have succeeded in this process is up for debate.
In the Arab world, schools, museums, and national archives celebrate the state’s history and “great men”, while the people’s history is erased and forgotten. Based on his research in the Egyptian National Archives, the Egyptian historian and academic Khaled Fahmy will reflect in his lecture on his own attempt to break this silence by telling the story of the average Egyptian.
DISCUSSION: KHALED FAHMY AND MICHELLE TISDEL
After the lecture, Khaled Fahmy will meet Michelle A. Tisdel for a conversation on identity, history writing, and the meeting point the archives, cultural heritage and definitional power in narrating history in Norway and the west. The conversation will be moderated by Rana Issa.
FILM SCREENING: “SALATA BALADI” (EGYPTIAN SALAD), (2008, 105 minutes)
This documentary explores the complex cultural and religious heritage of the Egyptian filmmaker Nadia Kamel’s own family. Her mother has Jewish and Christian Italian origins, and converted to Islam when she married Kamel’s Turkish-Ukrainian father. Accompanied by her 80-year-old mother and her 10-year-old Palestinian nephew, Kamel embarks on a journey to Italy and Israel in an attempt to tell the story of an Egypt that no longer exists.

Masahat Screens
2023-09-24 14:30 - 19:00 | Vega Scene, Hausmanns gate 30, Oslo, 0182, Norway
Masahat Screens
Join us on the last day of Masahat festival for a thought-provoking and inspiring Sunday at VEGA Scene with film screenings, conversations, mingling and more.
The day starts with the screening of Bloody Beans (2013, 80 mins) directed by Narimane Mari, which won the top prize at the prestigious documentary festival CPH:DOX. In her hybrid documentary, Mari experiments with how children can appropriate a complex history while they try to reenact the colonization and the Algerian War of Independence.
Later in the day, we will have Orwa Nyrabia, Artistic Director of IDFA, as our main guest at Masahat Screens. Under the title “Decolonize the Gaze”, Nyrabia will talk about his vision and work at IDFA since he became the Artistic Director in 2018, then he will be joined by Anne Szefer Karlse to continue the conversation and discuss how major festivals and cultural institutions can address the questions of representation, equity and inclusion.
We then end the day with a short films program curated and introduced by Maha Maamoun.
Program

PART I: Bloody Beans. Buy tickets HERE.

14:30-16:00: Bloody Beans (2013, 80 mins) dir. Narimane Mari

PART II: Conversation + short films. Buy tickets HERE.

16:00-17:15: Decolonize the Gaze with Orwa Nyrabia in conversation with Anne Szefer Karlsen
17:15-18:00: Mingling + finger food with Orwa Nyrabia and Masahat Screens guests
18:00-19:00: Litanies against fear (55 mins), a short films program curated and introduced by Maha Maamoun

Bloody Beans
(Loubia Hamra) Narimane Mari I France, Algeria | 2013 | 77 min
Language: Arabic
Subtitles: English
Already an established producer before she turned to directing, Narimane Mari is part of an exciting wave of experimental cinema coming from Algeria. Her debut feature, Bloody Beans, won the top prize at the prestigious documentary festival CPH:DOX, though to call it merely a “documentary” is reductive: described in Film Comment as an “expressionistic hybrid,” Mari’s film is a comedy, a tragedy about the past, and a portrait of colonialism in the present. Shot over nine days, with limited rehearsals and almost no reshoots, Mari’s film is set at some unspecified point during Algeria’s War of Independence, and explores the legacy of France’s brutal 132-year occupation of the country through the eyes and energies of children from the Bab El Oued and Bologhine neighborhoods of Algiers. The results are less “kids say the darndest things” than something akin to an hallucinatory experience, the surreal atmosphere aided by a score from Zombie Zombie.

Litanies against fear
A short films program curated by Maha Maamoun.
An anxiety runs deep in these films. It animates the bodies of the protagonists circumambulating their phantom homes and this film program. Contemporary experiences of separation from home-be they physical or psychological experiences, find their roots and resonances in narratives of forced displacement, colonialism and rising fascisms old and new.

Only When All the Poison Has Gone (The Healing of Emily Ruete) (2023, 18 min) dir. Doa Aly

Only when all the poison has gone (The healing of Emily Ruete) is an audio-video installation based on the memoirs and letters of Emily Ruete, born Salamah bint Said bin Sultan, Princess of Oman and Zanzibar (1844-1924), as introduced by E. Van Donzel in An Arabian Princess Between Two Worlds: Memoirs, Letters Home, Sequels to the Memoirs, Syrian Customs and Usages. Emily/Salamah was prevented from returning to her homeland after eloping with a German merchant. This film seeks to turn the unconscious processes in Emily’s writing into a conscious awareness of movement, through choreography, to create an immersive field of healing feminine energy, a meditation, using her character as an effigy in a cathartic experience, for and by her.

30KG Shine (2017, 20 mins) dir. Shadi Habib Allah

30KG Shine (2017) is a video installation that examines various states of existence-object, body and spirit – and how they exchange roles and share enmeshed forms of agency. Paying homage to a 1930s urban myth about a ghost that haunted the Old City of Jerusalem, the film records how an elderly woman, currently living where the fable is set, secures her home and family heritage by leading life in confined quarters, often at the expense of her own livelihood and health. The work also features footage of a ‘tunnel cemetery’ being constructed to house 22,000 displaced corpses; these bodies claim presence and ownership of the place where they will lie.

Capital (2023, 17 mins) dir. Basma al-Sherif

Referencing the Italian “white telephone” films of the late 1930s and 40s, that were considered as precursors to fascist propaganda films, al-Sherif’s latest film reflects on the grotesque via a purview of contemporary urban planning projects and their promise of comfort and docility.

Decolonize the Gaze with Orwa Nyrabia
2023-09-24 16:00 - 18:00 | Vega Scene, Hausmanns gate 30, Oslo, 0182, Norway
Decolonizing the documentary has been a recurring theme at IDFA, the world’s largest documentary film festival, since Orwa Nyrabia became the Artistic Director in 2018. Under his leadership, the festival has been tackling the difficult questions of representation, equity and inclusion.
Who has the power to represent and narrate? How can arts and cultural institutions challenge hegemonic powers, amplify marginalized voices and foster a more equitable and representative cultural landscape?
In this conversation, we ask Orwa Nyrabia to talk about his experience and vision leading IDFA. Afterwards, he will be joined by Anne Szefer Karlsen to continue the discussion on the critical role major festivals and established cultural institutions can play in reshaping the cultural narrative, acknowledging historical injustices, and embracing diversity and inclusion.

This event is in collaboration with Mirage, Human IDFF, Oslo Dokumentarkino and Fritt Ord foundation.
This conversation is part of Masahat Screens where we spend the last day of Masahat festival at VEGA Scene.

Masahat Screens Program:
PART I: Bloody Beans. Buy tickets HERE.

14:30-16:00: Bloody Beans (2013, 80 mins) dir. Narimane Mari

PART II: Conversation + short films. Buy tickets HERE.

16:00-17:15: Decolonize the Gaze with Orwa Nyrabia in conversation with Anne Szefer Karlsen
17:15-18:00: Mingling + finger food with Orwa Nyrabia and Masahat Screens guests
18:00-19:00: Litanies against fear (55 mins), a short films program curated and introduced by Maha Maamoun.

Vigil for Palestine
2024-09-20 19:00 - 20:00 | Eidsvoll Plass, Eidsvoll Plass, Oslo, Norway
We are approaching one year of a perpetrated genocide in Gaza with no immediate ceasefire in sight and with mounting threats that a regional war would break out. We are angry and resentful of our impotent politicians and institutions who have so far not stopped the sale of arms to the Zionist entity or took any concrete measure to divest from the Israeli settler regime, which we view as complicity with genocide and with any escalations into a regional war taking place. We invite activists and Palestine supporters to join us in a nightly vigil to grieve our Palestinian martyrs, the incarceration and torture of Palestinian children, women and men, and the massive destruction and erasure of Palestinian lives, ecologies and culture. This protest vigil is for us to share our anger and grief in front of the Parliament. This vigil will showcase solidarity with Palestine through artistic commissioned works by Norwegian, Arab and Palestinian cultural practitioners.
Program

Opening address: Kari Veiteberg, Bishop of Oslo
Political address: Line Khateeb, Leder av Palestina Komitee
Moment of Silence
Screening on Stortingets wall of Videos for Palestine by Video Tract for Palestine
Collective, Mira Adoumie, Islam Shabana
Poetry Readings by Bendik Vada, Ninthu Paramalingam, Mahmud Beshtawy
Carnivalesque Performance “Songs of Anemone” by Farah Azrak.

This vigil is a collaboration between Palkom, Aksjonsgruppa for Palestina and Masahat. The artistic program is made possible through a generous grant from KORO.

Masahat screens
2024-09-22 14:30 - 18:00 | Vega Scene, Hausmanns gate 30, Oslo, 0182, Norway
Masahat Screens 2024 will present films from the Arab world that explore themes of protest, life under occupation and the struggles of life in exile curated by Mira Adoumier, and a second part with films from Sudan curated by Khalid Albaih.
The program consists of three parts:

kl. 14:45 Mahdi Fleifel short films – Life in Exile | Tickets
kl. 16:45 Five Broken Cameras | Tickets
kl. 18:45 Masahat: Films from Sudan | Tickets

PART I
14:45 PART I (total 1hr 29 mins): is a selection of four short films by the award-winning Danish-Palestinian filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel

20 Handshakes For Peace (2015, 5 min)
A Man Returned (2017, 30 min)
3 Logical Exists (2020, 14 min)
I Signed the Petition (2018, 10 min).

The short films will be followed by Some Strings, a selection of videos by filmmakers and artists from around the world, each contributing with a cinematic gesture in honor of the late poet and teacher Refaat Alareer’s poem “If I must Die”.
PART II

16:45 PART II (total 1 hr 30 mins)

The Palestinian farmer Emad buys his first camera in 2005, when his fourth son is born. The family lives in the village of Bil’in, where over the years Israeli settlements occupy larger and larger parts of the land. The camera captures the son’s upbringing, surrounded by bulldozers, soldiers and ever-higher walls.
5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal film about citizens questioning non-violent ideals in the struggle against an oppressive regime. Through Emad’s camera lens, we follow the family and the village’s demonstrations over five dramatic years.
This screening is presented by Masahat in collaboration with Oslo Dokumentarkino.
PART III

Curated by Khalid Albaih, the second part of the program presents a powerful collection of films that speak to resilience, defiance, and the enduring human spirit.
The program will feature a selection of four short documentaries: Journey to Kenya by Ibrahim Snoopy (2020, 29 min), Brick of Life by Razan Mohamed (2022, 12 min), Nas Shagala by Klozium Studios (2013, 16 min) and The Art of Sin by Ibrahim Mursal (2017, 45 min). These documentaries offer intimate, poignant glimpses into the lived experiences of Sudanese individuals, exploring themes of displacement, exile, and personal and collective struggles under oppressive regimes that led to the devastating two-year war in Sudan. The screenings will be followed by a Q&A between the filmmaker and curator Khalid Albaih and Ibrahim Mursal.

Den gamle nye Levanten: Film + samtale
2025-03-14 17:00 - 19:00 | Vega Scene, Hausmanns gate 30, Oslo, 0182, Norway
As part of HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival, this event presents a program of short films curated by Masahat, followed by a panel discussion with Nadim Khoury, Rana Issa, and Zeina Bali.
In recent months, the Levant has witnessed dramatic upheavals: an ongoing genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, Israel’s war on Lebanon and the assassination of the Hezbollah leadership, and the fall of Assad’s 54-year rule in Syria. At the same time, we keep hearing about Netanyahu and Trump’s plans to redraw the map of the Middle East.
But how has this map evolved over the past half century?
Through film screenings and conversation, we take a historical look at the spirals of violence, wars, and militarization that have shaped Levantine society for more than 50 years. With a post-nationalist perspective, we want to shed light on the regional lines that have characterized the small nations of the Levant.

Read more & buy tickets

Short film program

Swords Take Me
In one of his poems, poet Mohsen al Ha’eri, speaking in the voice of Imam Hussein (the son of Imam Ali and, after his father, the second of the twelve Shi’a Imams) prior to his martyrdom in the battle of Karbala, says: “If the religion of Mohamed shall not prevail but through my killing/ Then O swords take me”. This video attempts to look at the mythological and metaphysical aspects of Lebanon’s July 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
2012, 30 minutes, arabic speech with english subtitles.
Director: Marwan Hamdan.

Step by Step
Step by Step is a reflection of the foundations of Syrian society under Assad rule. Ten years before filmmaker Ossama Mohammed received international recognition with Stars in Broad Daylight (1988) and 36 years before his award winning film Silvered Water – Syria Self Portrait 2014), he captured the dire state of Syria in this short documentary.Through the film’s experimental style, a harsh reality emerges closer to the surface. The apparently harmonious countryside turns out to be choking and violent. The effects of this are clearly demonstrated as a soldier talks about his childhood, in between the impressions of village life. Freedom and innocence have made way for a disturbing, fanatical loyalty to the state. Is this a reflection of the foundations of Syrian society under Assad’s rule?
1979, 24 minutes, arabic speech with english subtitles.
Director: Ossama Mohammad.

Detail 4
Inauguration of the Meir Kahana bible school in Tapu’ah, one of the most extreme Jewish settelements in the occupied territories.
2004, 5 minutes, hebrew speech with english subtitles.
Director: Avi Mograbi.

Interview with Ghassan Kanafani
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine spokesman Ghassan Kanafani interviewed by Richard Carleton, Beirut 1970.
1970, 7 minutes,
Director: Unknown.
About the directors
Marwan Hamdan is a Lebanese filmmaker and artist whose works explore Beirut’s political and social modern history, with a particular focus on religion, mythology, belief and systems of power. Filmography: “News from Rmeileh (2018), “Offside” (2015), “On Earth As It Is In Heaven” (2014), “Separation Anxiety” (2013), “O Swords Take Me” (2012).
Ossama Mohammad is a Syrian filmmaker, screenwriter and lecturer. His fiction and documentary films “Silvered Water” (2014), “Sunduq al Dunya” (2002) and “Nujoom Al Nahar” (1988) have all been selected for the Cannes Film Festival. His films have been banned in Syria, but have received critical acclaim and several awards internationally. In 2015, he received the Prince Claus Award. Ossama currently lives in exile in Paris.
Avi Mograbi is an Israeli filmmaker and video artist, born in 1956 in Tel Aviv, where he lives and works to this day. Mograbi is one of Israel’s most acclaimed filmmakers, and is best known for his unwavering commitment to social, cultural and political justice in the Middle East, as well as his experimental and innovative cinematic language. Mograbi’s documentaries have been programmed by festivals around the world, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Rome, New York, FID Marseille, Vision du Reel and San Francisco, among others.
The final filmmaker is unknown, but here is a little about the journalist who interviews in “Ghassan Kanafani”: Richard George Carleton (July 11, 1943 – May 7, 2006) was an Australian television journalist, who eventually produced films abroad, such as in Indonesia (he was the only journalist allowed to visit the newly “integrated” East Timor) and in the Middle East.

Collaborating with Gazan Artists today
2025-09-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Kunstnernes Hus, Wergelandsveien 17, Oslo, 0167, Norway
Kunstnernes Hus — September 18, 10:00–12:00

The genocide in Gaza has devastated every aspect of Palestinian life. No one in Gaza is safe, and no one who has witnessed this crime will ever forget it. In the gap between those who witness and those who endure the violence directly, urgent questions arise: How do we speak about Gaza? How do we act in solidarity with its people?

In Norway, Palestinian artists have been especially attentive to these questions—reflecting on how our artistic and cultural expressions often fall short of conveying the Gazan experience of genocide. The panel we have invited consists entirely of artists who have redirected their practice and resources to stand with colleagues and friends in Gaza. Their goal is clear: to ensure that Gazan artists break through the siege and mass killing, and speak in their own voices despite ongoing attempts to silence them.

This conversation asks: What does it mean to collaborate with artists in Gaza today? What does it mean to make art during a genocide? And how does the extermination of Palestinians compel us to rethink our artistic tools, languages, and practices?

Panelists

Motaz Al Habbash
A Palestinian artist, producer, and curator residing in Norway. He primarily works with video and runs the mentoring program Here and There and the art and culture platform It is hard to be Arab. His current film project The Donkey of October 7th—in collaboration with Mustafa Nabieh—focuses on the situation of donkeys in Gaza. His work includes the installation Stolen Well (Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, 2024) and the seven-hour live program with Gazan artists Gaza (a)live (2016).

Carmel Alabbasi
A Palestinian visual artist whose practice spans video, sound, writing, sculpture, and installation. With a background in journalism and social anthropology, and an MFA from KHIO (Oslo), Carmel’s work explores absence and disappearance, confronting colonial and patriarchal erasures of people, spaces, and identities.

Dahaleez Collective
A research art collective founded in Gaza in 2021 by artists and researchers Khaled Jarada, Rahaf Batniji, Salman Nawati, Majdal Nateel, Carmel Al-Abbasi, Mahmoud Abu Wardeh, and Mahmoud Al-Shaer. Originating with the project Geography of Divine Magic at Beit Al-Ghussein Cultural and Heritage House, the collective examines Palestinians’ temporal and spatial realities under siege. Dahaleez develops collaborative and analytical tools to envision liberation and reconstruction of Palestine.

Ayman Azraq
A filmmaker, photographer, and mixed-media artist. His short film The Passport has screened at the National Museum of Cinema (Turin), Cologne International VideoArt Festival, and elsewhere. His work includes Oslo Syndrome (Autumn Exhibition, Oslo; Dubai International Film Festival; London Palestinian Film Festival), the collaborative installation WALL-1, and the documentary Into My Lungs (Kunstnernes Hus, 2022). His mixed-media installation The Lost Tapes of a People’s Tribunal 1982 was exhibited at Fotogalleriet (2023/24). In 2023, he launched the Artist to Artist Project, a digital residency supporting Gazan artists, culminating in the exhibition For You at Tenthaus and Podium. He has also exhibited at Nitja Center for Contemporary Art and Rogaland Kunstsenter.

Drew Snyder (Moderator)
An art historian and curator based in Oslo. He is Senior Curator at Public Art Norway – KORO, where his work includes major public art projects at the Government Quarter and Museum of the Viking Age. He is also engaged in discursive initiatives such as investigations of public art in the context of Truth and Reconciliation in Norway and Sápmi, and the Oslo-based Artist to Artist residency program facilitating dialogue with Gazan artists. Snyder holds a PhD in art history, theory, and criticism from the University of California, San Diego.
Photo credit: Svein Erik Tøien

Grønlands Maidan: Home Not for Sale.
2025-09-20 12:00 - 16:00 | Grønland
Street Party Against the Gentrification of Grønland

Practical Information
📍 Meeting point: Botsparken → ending at Olafiagangen🕛 Time: 12:00–16:00🌿 Open to all — free public event

A festival day of ritual, people’s march, stories of solidarity and resistance, textile workshops, games, and music in the streets of Grønland.
Grønland is Oslo’s cultural crossroads—a neighborhood where diverse communities and newcomers from Norway and across the world have lived, worked, and thrived for generations. Today, greedy developers and their political enablers threaten to erase this history, displace communities, and sell our streets to the highest bidder.
We say no.
Join us at Olafiagangen for a day of celebration and solidarity—because the soul of a neighborhood lives in its people.

The march starts 12:00 at Botsparken. It ends 12:30 at Olafiagangen with speeches from Reduser Husleia, Leieboerforeningen and Nordic Black Theatre.
We march to protect Grønland from the growing pressure of real estate speculation: higher rents, unstable leases, and gentrification that risks pushing away families, businesses, and organizations that have long been the heart of this neighborhood.
Artist Waldane Walker will guide us through a powerful MAS (masquerade), leading a ritual procession to cleanse the neighborhood from greedy developers and city planners who seek to displace us by building homes only for those who can afford them.
✨ March with us, raise your voice in the chants, and help protect the soul of Grønland from gentrification.💚 Come show your love for the neighborhood.

Program
📍 Start: Botsparken → End: Olafiagangen🕛 Time: 12:00–16:00

Botsparken → Olafiagangen
12:00–12:30 | Our Home, Our Neighbourhood: People’s March for GrønlandA march against gentrification, led by artist Waldane Walker a MAS (masquerade), leading a ritual procession to cleanse the neighborhood from greedy developers.

Olafiagangen
12:30–12:45 | SpeechesWith contributions from Reduser Husleia, Leieboerforeningen, and Nordic Black Theatre.
12:30–16:00 | The Solidarity Patchwork – Threads of ResistanceWith Latin-Amerika Gruppen (LAG Norge). Add your own stitched story to a collective quilt of global solidarity.
12:30–16:00 | Veggietales (work in progress)By Aleksander Varadian. A visual artwork on gentrification using fruits and vegetables from Grønland’s markets.
12:30–16:00 | No Silence in the Arts for GazaBy Stefanie Reinhart. An exhibition of 700+ small artworks in Palestinian colors — expressions of grief, hope, and resistance.👉 The full exhibition can be viewed at Mama’s Café / Frivillighetens hus until October 11.
13:10–13:25 | FlashmobWith Nordic Black Theatre.
13:30–15:30 | Third SpaceBy Dahleez Collective. An audio-narrative interweaving memories, absence, and presence from Gaza. Guests: Bisan Nateel, Asem Nabih, Fidaa Al-Hasanat – Majdal Nateel.
14:00–16:00 | Kurak WorkshopWith Peri Orunbaeva. Learn the Kyrgyz textile tradition of Kurak. Drop-in workshop, limited spots.@
14:00–16:00 | StedsvevenBy Tenthaus (Helen Eriksen, Samira Jamouchi, Ebba Moi). A participatory textile project exploring Grønland–Tøyen’s identity.

Dattera til Hagen
13:30–15:00 | Reading Circle: The War Against HospitalitiesWith Rene Gabri and Ayreen Anastas. A discussion on colonialism as a war against hospitality, with texts, zines, and dialogue.

Nordic Black Theatre
14:00–15:00 | Concert: Ramy EssamIn collaboration with Kawakibi Foundation.

In collaboration withNordic Black Theater · Oslo Museum · Tenthaus · Dattera til Hagen · Safemuse · Kawakibi Foundation · Leieboerforeningen · Atelier Kunstnerforbundet

The Frida Marida Show x Dragon Blood by Only Slime
2025-09-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Det Norske Teatret, Kristian IVs g. 8, 0164, OSLO, 0164, Norway
Practical Information
📍 Venue: Det Norske Teatret📅 Date: September 20, 2025
🕔 Program:

16:30 → Dragon Blood by Only Slime

19:00 → The Frida Marida Show (duration: 1.5 hours)

🌍 Language: English🎟️ One ticket gives you access to both performances.
This performance is for Adults only

A Night of Fantasy, Music & Radical Hospitality

Masahat, in collaboration with Ultima, Det Norske Teatret, Karmaklubb and Only Slime, proudly presents The Frida Marida Show.
With support from Masahat and as part of the RAWABET project, Frida transforms a car steering wheel into a drum, tracing her personal journey — from a young man in Lebanon dreaming of music, to a woman, singer, and songwriter in Oslo. Life’s unexpected turns echo in rhythm and sound.
The evening opens with Dragon Blood by Only Slime, unfolding inside an immersive dinner-style installation: chandeliers, tables instead of rows, and performers moving among the audience. Everyone becomes part of the artwork. Guests are encouraged to wear imaginative, fantasy-inspired costumes.
At 19:00, Frida takes the stage with five musicians, two dancers, and a set of out-of-the-box concepts. She embraces Masahat’s 2025 theme of hospitality by singing in eight languages — inviting audiences into a shared cultural space across borders.
The night culminates with the launch of Frida Marida’s groundbreaking music video Fri Da Nipple — where six electronic boob-triggers become live instruments. Sound, body, and technology merge in a drag performance that redefines both music and art.

This event is presented in collaboration with Rawabet — a collective initiative led by Ettijahat – Independent Culture and implemented in partnership with GEZMATAZ, VOCE, coculture, Masahat, and Transversal Project.
Rawabet is supported by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) under the Creative Europe programme. The views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Masahat Screens & Sudanese Evening
2025-09-21 15:30 - 17:30 | Vega Scene, Hausmanns gate 30, Oslo, 0182, Norway
📍 Location: VEGA Scene, Oslo📅 Date: Sunday, September 21, 2025🕔 Time: 15:30–17:30 (films + discussion) → followed by Sudanese Evening (food + music)🎟️ Tickets: includes access to Masahat Screens + Sudanese evening

We close this year’s Masahat Festival at VEGA Scene, in collaboration with Oslo Documentary Cinema, with an inspiring program that moves from film and dialogue to an evening of food, music, and celebration of Sudanese culture.

Part One: Masahat Screens
Program

– In Fields of Words (2022, 70 mins) | Lebanon | dir. Rania Stephan
– The Other Side of Beauty (2024, 11 mins) | Morocco, Sudan | dir. Sami Saif Sirelkhatim
– Gaza Artists (2024, 16 mins) – | Palestine | dir. Mustafa al-Nabih

Following the screenings, there will be a discussion with Syrian author Samar Yazbek.
About the films
In Fields of Words (2022, 70 mins) | Lebanon | dir. Rania Stephan
A filmic dialogue between Syrian writer-in-exile Samar Yazbek and Lebanese filmmaker Rania Stephan, asking what role cinema and literature can play in the face of war, death, and violence. Shot between 2013 and 2019, the film documents the course of the Syrian revolution and civil war while exploring the question: “Can literature and cinema capture this tragedy?” Combining image, sound, and Yazbek’s words, Stephan creates a poetic and political testimony of our time. Winner of the Best Film Award at the 2022 Villa Medici Film Festival.

The Other Side of Beauty (2024, 11 mins) | Morocco, Sudan | dir. Sami Saif SirelkhatimThe story of a Sudanese photographer who finds beauty in his homeland’s stars and landscapes, while also facing the violence of war and genocide in Darfur. His images reveal truth to the world, but at great personal cost—through imprisonment, torture, and repression.
Gaza Artists (2024, 16 mins) – | Palestine | dir. Mustafa al-Nabih
A short documentary produced by Arji foundation, written and directed by Mustafa Al-Nabih. It offers a window into the lives of Palestinian artists in the Gaza Strip, amid ongoing displacement and the difficult conditions they endure. The film takes us on a journey with three artists from different generations, all of whom were displaced from Gaza and now live in the city of Rafah in the south of the Strip. We follow their daily lives, struggles, and the impact of continuous displacement on their creativity and personal lives, through genuine human moments, aside from the usual images of destruction. It seeks to reveal the human side of those who continue to live, dream, and create despite all that has been lost. This film is a cry to the world: Gaza is being annihilated, but we love life, and we resist with love and art. Every moment here bears the imprint of war; every smile is a victory.

Part Two: Sudanese Evening: Food, Music & Stories
After films and discussion, the festival continues with a Sudanese Evening at VEGA.
✨ Tasting menu of iconic Sudanese dishes by chef Mohammed Mustafa.✨ Solo concert by young Sudanese-Norwegian talent Yasir Moa, a songwriter and storyteller blending classical tunes with rhythmic, danceable sounds.
This evening is curated in collaboration with Khalid Albaih and Naoures Rouissi.
