Unpacking the ArteArchive

OBLIVION: Forced Disappearance, Memory, Absence, and Political Erasure

Available in 38d 12h 34m 38s
Available June 18, 2026 4:00 AM UTC
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6 films in package
My Father and Qaddafi
A daughter unravels the disappearance of her father, the peaceful opposition leader to Qaddafi, and pieces together her mother’s 19-year search to find him. Without any memory of her father, she tries to reconnect with him and reconcile with her Libyan identity.
Erased,__Ascent of the Invisible
Ghassan Halawani takes the viewer on a forensic paper chase, uncovering, layer by layer, the darkest chapters of Lebanese history on walls, in documents, and urban architecture.
Letter to My Sister
Nabila Djahnine, president of the feminist association Thirghri N'tmetout, died in hands of an armed group in Tizi Ouzou (Algeria) in 1995. The Islamists forced women, on pain of death, to wear the hijab or stop working. It was the first time a feminist woman paid with her life. Nabila wrote a letter to her sister Habiba in 1994. This documentary is her answer. In 2006 Habiba comes back to the place to restore her sister’s memory, her point of view, the day of her death and the political moment Algeria was going through at that time.
Screen Recording 2020-11-20 at 1.59.44 PM
My mother and I return to her childhood home, 46 years after she was forced to flee.
Prisoner and Jailer
“Prisoner and Jailer” tells the story of two contrasting Libyans: a key official in the former regime and one of the most prominent figures of the post-revolutionary period in Libya. Through these two characters, we discover the circumstances surrounding one of the most influential events in modern Libyan history: The Abu Salim Prison Massacre.
All is Well on the Border
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This film screening series examines forced disappearance as a political strategy and an enduring lived reality across the SWANA region. Through documentary and essay films, it centers testimony, memory, and visual absence as counterpoints to state violence and historical erasure. Anchored by My Father and Qaddafi (Jihan El-Tahri, Algeria), the series traces disappearance through intimate family histories shaped by authoritarian power. Erased, Ascent of the Invisible (Ghassan Halwani, Lebanon) extends this inquiry through an exploration of urban erasure and visual absence, emphasizing disappearance as an unresolved and ongoing condition. Additional works, including Letter to my Sister (Habiba Djahnine, Algeria) Screen Recording 2020-11-20 at 1.59.44 PM , (Argyro Nicolaou, Cyprus), Prisoner and Jailer, (Muhannad Lamin, Libya), and All Is Well On the Border Front (Akram Zaatari, Lebanon) expand the exploration of memory, absence, and unfinished histories across the region.


OBLIVION is curated by Laila Sharif and is co-presented by ArteEast and BAM. This program is part of the legacy program Unpacking the ArteArchive, which preserves and presents over 20 years of film and video programming by ArteEast.



This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

My Father and Qaddafi (2025)

​​When Jihan was six years old, her father flew to Cairo and never returned. Mansur Rashid Kikhia was the Foreign Minister of Libya, ambassador to the United Nations, and a human rights lawyer. After serving in Qaddafi's increasingly brutal regime, he defected from the government and became a peaceful opposition leader. Kikhia was obsessively loyal to his country but ultimately, his determination to reason with Qaddafi led to his disappearance from a hotel in Egypt in 1993.


About the filmmaker

Jihan was born in exile and raised in Paris while her father, a Libyan human rights lawyer, was the peaceful opposition leader to Qaddafi’s regime. After her father disappeared from Cairo, her family lived between the United States and France, while her mother, a Syrian artist, fought for justice in an international campaign. Jihan received her BA in International and Comparative Politics with a concentration in Human Rights, Philosophy, and International Law and her MA in Art Education and Storytelling.

  • Year
    2025
  • Runtime
    88 minutes
  • Language
    Arabic, English, French
  • Country
    Libya, United States
  • Premiere
    La Biennale Venice International Film Festival
  • Director
    Jihan
  • Producer
    Jihan
  • Executive Producer
    Dave Guenette, Sol Guy, Mohamed Soueid
  • Co-Producer
    Christian Holland
  • Cast
    Jihan K, Mansur Rashid Kikhia, Muammar Gaddafi
  • Editor
    Alessandro Dordoni, Chloe Lambourne, Nicole Halova
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