Director: Mona Benyamin

2023 / 40min / Digital

“In these films, Benyamin draws on popular media forms to frame intergenerational perspectives on trauma and hope. Referencing the tropes of television sitcoms, Trouble in Paradise (2018) uses jokes to underline taboos related to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Nakba; taking the form of a music video, Moonscape (2020) follows the artist’s query to the Lunar Embassy seeking citizenship that would allow her travel to neighboring Arab countries as a Palestinian with an Israeli passport; Tomorrow, again (2023) stages a dysfunctional news broadcast that reproduces news coverage of the Second Intifada.” —Series curator May Makki

This program is presented in conversation with the exhibition SCREEN MEMORIES, co-presented by Abrons Arts Center and Artists Alliance Inc.

Special guest Ethan Philbrick will open the program with a solo cello improvisation in response to Benyamin’s films. Following the screening, Benyamin will be in conversation with guest curator May Makki.