YPP director Will Picard and UCLA librarian David Hirsch host a screening of selected short films from the upcoming International Yemeni Film & Arts Festival. Following the screening, Picard and Hirsch will lead a discussion about the films' themes and their broader context in Yemeni society and the Yemeni diaspora.

Films will include:

Socotra: H’er wa Imshin, Felisa Jimenez. Yemen & Colombia, 2013, 36 minutes (World Premiere). This hauntingly beautiful documentary explores the social changes that have come to the remote Yemeni island of Socotra in recent years.

The Last Harvest, Jonathan Friedlander & Erik Friedl. USA, 2012, 23 minutes. This documentary, produced by UCLA researcher Jonathan Friedlander, explores the lives of Yemenis who settled in California’s San Joaquin Valley. At the peak of migration, some 5,000 Yemenis were employed in the fields of central California. Today only several hundred remain.

Karama Has No Walls, Sara Ishaq. Yemen, 2011, 30 minutes. Jumʻat al-Karama, the Friday of Dignity, on which pro-regime gunmen murdered over 50 revolutionary activists and wounded hundreds, marked a turning point in Yemen’s popular uprising of 2011. Filmmaker Sara Ishaq tells the story of the Karama massacre and its aftermath through the eyes of activists and their families. This film is currently on the short-list for an Academy Award nomination, the first such achievement for a Yemeni film.

A Stranger in Her Own City, Khadija al-Salami. Yemen, 2005, 29 minutes. In her first documentary, al-Salami shadows 13-year-old Nejmia, a girl who flouts custom by playing in the streets of Old Sanʻa “like a boy” and refusing to wear the hijab. Nejmia laughs off the taunts and curses of her neighbors, and captivates the viewer with her indomitable spirit.

The Big House, Musa Syeed. Yemen, 2013, 5 minutes. When a young boy finds a key to the empty mansion down the street, he lets himself and his imagination run wild in the big house.

Photo, Sawsan al-Areeqe. Yemen, 2012, 4 minutes. This simple but eloquent allegory celebrates the light women bring to Yemeni society despite all attempts at repression.

This event is free and open to the public, though UCLA charges for off-street parking. Light refreshments provided. Sponsored by the UCLA G.E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies.

Sunday 1/12, 3:00-6:00pm Charles E. Young Research Library, room 11360