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Manity/Machtat (12A) + Online ScreenTalk

SAFAR Film Festival

,Cinema 3
A person with their hair in a bun puts on mascara in a bathroom mirror.

SAFAR Film Festival presents a double bill of screenings examining gender, expectation and tradition, including the UK premiere of Machtat by Sonia Ben Slama.

Fatma and her two daughters, Najeh and Waffeh, are machtat, wedding musicians in Mahdia, a small city in Tunisia. 

Filmed over several years with the musicians, Machtat captures the contours of these women’s existence and their contradictions: torn between their duties as women and their desires as musicians, between the freedom of summer and the monotony of winter, and between their financial independence and the authority of men surrounding them.

The film will be preceded by Hussein Ibrahim’s short film Manity (2023), where on a sunny day, Firas — an 11-year-old boy — accompanies his father Tayseer and his father’s friend Rayan on a bird-hunting jaunt in the Lebanese mountainside. What is supposed to be a calm hunting trip turns into an unforgettable experience.

Tagged with: Cinema SAFAR Film Festival 2024

Event ends 8.30pm

Machtat

Tunisia, Lebanon, France, Qatar 2023 dir Sonia Ben Slama 82 min 

LANGUAGE: Arabic

Manity

Lebanon, France 2023 dir Hussen Ibraheem 15 min
 
LANGUAGE: Arabic

Content Warning: Please note this programme contains references of war, domestic violence and sexism.

Guest speaker on Zoom: Sonia Ben Slama
Guest chairing Q&A: Rabih El Khoury

Cinema 3

Location
Barbican Cinema 2 & 3 are located on Beech Street, a short walk from the Barbican’s Silk Street entrance. From Silk Street, you’ll see a zebra crossing that will take you across the road to the venue. 

Address
Beech Street
London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.