Conversations, debates, insights on strong and current issues. The festival invites experts, authors, journalists, essayists, artists to the stage of Cinema La Compagnia to talk about today’s Middle East issues. Curated by Laura Silvia Battaglia and Giuseppe Alizzi
Lebanese Chronicles: Between Fragility and Resistance
Wednesday, October 16 – IL PUNTO DELLE 19:30
Cinema La Compagnia, 7:30pm – 8:30pm – free admission
Lebanon, a land of contradictions, divisions and unusual harmonies, is today in a more delicate historical moment than ever. From internal war to the current economic and political crisis, to the renewed war with neighboring Israel, this talk seeks to explore the complex intertwining of events that have transformed the country. In an open and sincere discussion, director Myriam El Hajj, poet and writer Joumana Haddad and journalist Lorenzo Trombetta will discuss how Lebanon continues, despite its fragility, to resist. Moderated by journalist Laura Silvia Battaglia.
God, country, woman, family in times of war. And love?
Thursday, October 17 – IL PUNTO DELLE 19:30
Cinema La Compagnia, 7:30pm – 8:30pm – free admission
War devastates everything: people, communities, values. This talk addresses how conflicts transform and distort the foundations of society, from spiritual values to the role of women. And love? Often forgotten, it unexpectedly resurfaces in the most unlikely places: a landfill in Iraq, a makeshift clinic in Yemen. Director Ahmed al Daraj (Iraq), director Amr Gamal (Yemen) and producer Mohsen Alkhalifi tell these touching stories, exploring how love survives and heals in the midst of destruction. Moderated by journalist Laura Silvia Battaglia.
Ecologies of resistance: stories of exploited territories and resistance
Friday, October 18 – IL PUNTO DELLE 19:30
Cinema La Compagnia, 7:30pm – 8:30pm – free admission
The crises of the Middle East and North Africa are intertwined with stories of exploitation and resistance. This talk focuses on the theme of this edition of the festival and the exhibition “AIR, RIVER, SEA SOIL. A history of an exploited land,” shedding light on the consequences of colonial rule in the region. In conversation with Giuseppe Alizzi, speakers include Roï Saade (Lebanon) curator of the exhibition “AIR, RIVER, SEA SOIL. A history of an exploited land”, Eva Ziedan (Syria) expert in management of resources and cultural heritage in conflict areas, Rosita Di Peri, professor of Cultures, Politics and Society of the Middle East (University of Turin).
“INUMANA”, a theatrical performance by Laura Silvia Battaglia and Rossella Spinosa
Saturday, October 19 – IL PUNTO DELLE 19:30 GOES TO THE THEATRE!
Cinema La Compagnia, 7:30pm – 8:30pm
What is a man without freedom? The answers to this question come to us from five people whose lives are marked by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Giving voice (and music) to these stories will be Laura Silvia Battaglia and Rossella Spinosa, co-authors of “INUMANA,” their first melodrama, which has already sold out in numerous Italian theaters.
Hogra aw sabr. When faced with (denied) rights, should we be angry or patient?
Sunday 20 October – THE FINAL TALK
Cinema La Compagnia, 11:30 am – free admission
Fundamental human rights – housing, work, freedom of movement and speech – are often denied in the Middle East, where the legacy of colonialism continues to profoundly affect people’s lives. How much longer will it take to reverse the colonial, “us” and “them” approach with which the West has always looked at the East? And again, how should we respond to this reality, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian context, with anger or with patience? Finally, is there a third way to restore dignity to those who have been oppressed and create a future of equity and justice?
With Laura Silvia Battaglia, Luce Lacquaniti (scholar and translator), Fidaa Abuhamdiya and Silvia Chiarantini (authors of “Pop Palestine. Journey into Palestinian popular cuisine”), Gennaro Giudetti (humanitarian worker, author of the book “With them like them”) and others discuss it.