Give as a gift
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.
Screen Recording 2020-11-20 at 1.59.44 PM
In 1974, following the Greek-backed coup d'etat and Turkish invasion of Cyprus, my mother's hometown, Varosha, was turned into a forbidden military zone by the occupying Turkish army. Uninhabited and inaccessible for 46 years, the once-bustling seaside resort became an eerie ghost town, until one day in October 2020, when it was suddenly opened to the public as a bizarre open-air museum. In this short film, my mother and I reflect on the experience of returning to her childhood home as tourists, 46 years after she was forced to flee.
About the filmmaker
Argyro Nicolaou is a filmmaker and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work deals with the afterlives of forced displacement and the history of images in post-conflict, postcolonial places like her home country of Cyprus. Her short films and media performances have been presented at the Museum of the Moving Image, New York; Gallatin Galleries; and Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival, among others.
- Year2024
- Runtime10 mins
- LanguageCypriot Greek
- CountryCyprus
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorArgyro Nicolaou
- Sound DesignCarl Elsaesser
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.
Screen Recording 2020-11-20 at 1.59.44 PM
In 1974, following the Greek-backed coup d'etat and Turkish invasion of Cyprus, my mother's hometown, Varosha, was turned into a forbidden military zone by the occupying Turkish army. Uninhabited and inaccessible for 46 years, the once-bustling seaside resort became an eerie ghost town, until one day in October 2020, when it was suddenly opened to the public as a bizarre open-air museum. In this short film, my mother and I reflect on the experience of returning to her childhood home as tourists, 46 years after she was forced to flee.
About the filmmaker
Argyro Nicolaou is a filmmaker and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work deals with the afterlives of forced displacement and the history of images in post-conflict, postcolonial places like her home country of Cyprus. Her short films and media performances have been presented at the Museum of the Moving Image, New York; Gallatin Galleries; and Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival, among others.
- Year2024
- Runtime10 mins
- LanguageCypriot Greek
- CountryCyprus
- Subtitle LanguageEnglish
- DirectorArgyro Nicolaou
- Sound DesignCarl Elsaesser