Global artists explore identity and culture in Mena+ film launch

Competition showcases eight filmmakers connected to the Middle East

Winners of MENA Arts UK competition. From left to right, top to bottom. Amina Atiq, Bint Mbareh, Jida Akil, Majid Adin, Maral Mamaghanizadeh, May Ziadé, Nooriyah Qais and Peyvand Sadeghian. Photo credShow more

Middle Eastern identity and culture were the focus of eight thought-provoking films at the launch of a Mena Arts UK event on Friday.

The filmmakers were selected to show their films following a competition last year by Mena Arts UK, a newly established organisation aimed at promoting film and theatre professionals connected to Mena+, a term for the region that includes the Middle East, North Africa and surrounding countries.

Participating artists used animation, poetry and dance in minute-long films examining issues such as media representation, identity and politics.

Each artist received £1,000 ($1,366) to create their work.

A film by Amina Atiq, a British-Yemeni woman from Liverpool, showed her reading a poem about coffee, which she used as a metaphor to express solidarity across the Arab world. Originally brought from Africa to Yemen by traders, coffee is enjoyed at funerals and weddings across the region.

Her poem expressed the pain of war and focused particularly on coffee farmers, who have struggled during the conflict in Yemen.

“I think we need to take time to heal and to reflect. So there is still a sense of rage and pain we're trying to navigate.”

Majid Adin, an animator who fled to Britain from Iran in 2016, presented his abstract work A Cube in Love, which drew on Iran's tradition of poetry and Middle Eastern philosophy. Jida Akil's piece examined her Lebanese and Syrian background and growing up as a "third culture kid".

Other winner included London-born Peyvand Sadeghian, an actor, puppeteer and theatre-maker and Nooriyah Qais a DJ, presenter and filmmaker.

Films from May Ziade, a French-Lebanese filmmaker, and Maral Mamaghanizadeh, an Iranian artist whose work explores being deaf, female and a refugee.

Sepy Baghaei, an Iranian theatre director who serves as co-vice chair for Mena Arts UK, said she was blown away by the standard of the projects.

"Our winning eight ideas are an eclectic mix and feature animation, set design, poetry and music. Their makers are from all around the country – including Liverpool and the West Midlands – and are connected to Mena regions including Iran, Palestine, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. I am so excited to see these films come to life and to share their celebrations of Mena+ identity with a wider audience."

MENA Arts is part funded by the Film and TV Charity and Arts Council England. You can watch the films here.