The Virtual Memories programme features four experimental short films working through archival footage and the essay film form in their respective investigations into memory and the indexical claims of the image. Placing two works from our filmmaker in focus Kamal Ajafari in conversation with works by younger generation filmmakers Francisca Khamis Giacoman and Theo Panagopoulos, the programme is an exploration of the visual and spatial politics of remembering.
Shorts:
UNDR
Kamal Aljafari, 2024, 15'
31°42'49.5"N 35°10'13.9"E
Francisca Khamis Giacoman, 2023, 10' 55"
Paradiso XXI, 108
Kamal Aljafari, 2022, 21' 50"
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing
Theo Panagopoulos, 2024, 17'
Day:
Sun, 12 Oct
Time:
19:00–20:45
Venue:
Kriterion
Location:
K2
The films are followed by a post-screening discussion between film historian Jamil Fiorino-Habib and Fatme Agata Hawarin.
This programme is conceived in conjunction with the Filmmaker in Focus series. In line with this year’s thematic focus on Virtual Remains, the festival is happy to present Kamal Aljafari as our 2025 filmmaker in focus. The Filmmaker in Focus series brings together four works from Kamal’s oeuvre for a closer look, and in conversation with other archive-based film practices. Films include: A Fidai Film (2024); UNDR (2024); Paradiso XXI, 108 (2022); and Recollection (2015).
Biographies:
Jamil Fiorino-Habib (he/they) is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen, researching the preservation and activation of film archival material in archives and festivals across the Southeastern Mediterranean. Focusing on documentary, experimental, and expanded cinema, their work weaves together archival studies, oceanic thought, and decolonial theory to examine the necropolitics of film heritage in the Global South—particularly in regions shaped by political violence and ruination. Alongside their academic research, Jamil is active as a moderator and cultural worker with grassroots collectives and institutions in the Netherlands, including EYE Filmmuseum, Spui25, and Het Nieuwe Instituut.
Fatme Agata Hawarin is a Palestinian-Italian student and teaching assistant doing a Research Masters in the Film Studies department at the University of Amsterdam. She is on the Committee of UvA's student Film Club and of PFFA’s Film Programme Selection.
