in motion is an MMB film group bringing together students and researchers interested in the subject of migration in film and cinema. We hold regular screenings followed with informal conversations about the issues raised by the films.
in motion is organised by Naz Massoumi, Lecturer in Film and Television and MMB Challenge Co-ordinator – Representation, Belonging, Futures.
Everyone is welcome!
Offside, Jafar Panahi, 2006
15th December, 5-7.30pm
The Cinema, 5th Floor, Richmond Building, Queens Road
An Iranian comedy drama following the plight of a group of girls who disguise themselves as boys in order to sneak into the Iranian national football stadium in Tehran (where women are banned from attending matches) to watch a qualifying game between Iran and Bahrain for the World Cup. Held behind barriers outside, the film focuses on the young women’s confrontation and exchanges with young soldiers from the provinces who carry their own frustrations. A humorous, entertaining film that penetrates the complexities of social exclusion and identity.
The screening will be followed by an initial response from Negar Elodie Behzadi to kick start the discussion, which will be chaired by the MMB film group co-ordinator Nariman Massoumi.
To attend the screening, please sign up here.
Previously:
African Apocalypse, Rob Lemkin, 2020
The Department of Film and Television (FTV) hosted a screening and talks about ‘African Apocalypse’, a new film about Africa’s colonial past. The event was co-organised with Migration Mobilities Bristol, the Perivoli Africa Research Centre and Afrika Eye.
‘African Apocalypse’ is the story of a young man’s epic journey across Africa in search of a colonial killer. It is an urgent and timely non-fiction retelling of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
More information here.
Nosferasta, Adam Khalil and Bayley Sweitzer, 2022
MMB’s Representation, Belonging, Futures research challenge arranged a group tour of Spike Island’s new exhibitions: ‘Pigs and Poison’ by Candice Lin.
Also showing was the film ‘Nosferasta‘ by Adam Khalil and Bayley Sweitzer. Both exhibitions focus on colonial encounters and legacies, using different mediums to explore experiences of race, diaspora, citizenship and imperial conquest.
Hold Back the Dawn, Mitchell Leisen, 1941
Screening and discussion on a forgotten Hollywood classic about love at the border: Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen, 1941). Directed by underrated Hollywood director Mitchell Leisen, and co-written by Billy Wilder, Hold Back the Dawn (1941) is a melancholic romantic drama centring on Georges Iscovescu (Charles Boyer, Gaslight), a Romanian refugee stuck in a Mexican border town and facing an eight year wait for entry into the United States due to quota laws.
In This World, Michael Winterbottom, 2002
Shot on digital video camcorders, with non-professional actors, this drama documentary follows two young Afghan boys, Jamal Udin Torabi and his cousin Enayatullah, as they embark on an arduous journey from Shamshatoo refugee camp in Pakistan across Iran, Turkey, Italy and France to seek asylum in the UK. The film received widespread plaudits and won the Golden Bear Prize at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival but it also raised questions around the ethics of its use of two non-professional child actors to play the lead roles, one of whom later repeated the journey to the UK to seek asylum.
Atlantics (Atlantique), Mati Diop, 2019
The Senegalese film Atlantics (Atlantique), was the winner of the Grand Prix at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. This haunting supernatural drama, directed by debuting filmmaker Mati Diop, deals with real-life social commentary through its tale of love, death, class and migration.