Ethnocine Artist Residency at Haverford College
During fall 2020, filmmakers Seemab Gul and Nida Mehboob will be in virtual residence at Haverford College’s VCAM (Visual Culture, Arts, and Media) facility through its new Media and Makers Initiative. During their time with Haverford, they’ll meet with faculty and students, as well as work on post-production for their film How I Like It.
The residency is a collaboration between VCAM and Ethnocine Collective, a group of visual anthropologists and filmmakers who push the boundaries of documentary storytelling through decolonial and intersectional feminist practice. The residency aims to strengthen the burgeoning field of feminist ethnographic filmmaking by supporting two underrepresented artists to claim the time, space, and a critically engaged community to move the needle forward on works-in-progress.
How I Like It is a rare insight into a group of women who talk about their intimate sexual experiences and how they manage to achieve them in a patriarchal Muslim society of Pakistan. As part of their virtual residency with Haverford, Gul and Mehboob participated in a rough cut feedback session with residency organizers Emily Hong and Elena Guzman along with filmmakers and scholars Asli Dukan, Bakirathi Mani, Imran Siddiquee, Deborah A. Thomas, and Patricia White.
Seemab Gul is an artist and filmmaker based between London and Karachi. Her films interweave documentary, fictional, and performative elements to explore social-political stories. She is also an educator and a visiting tutor at the London Film Academy and National College of Arts.
Nida Mehboob is a photographer & filmmaker based in Lahore, Pakistan. Her topics of interest include themes of social injustice varying from religious persecution and gender discrimination in Pakistan.
Contact: ehong1 [at] haverford.edu + eguzman [at] haverford.edu
Organized by Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Visual Studies Emily Hong and Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Visual Studies and Hurford Center Postdoctoral Fellow Elena Guzman.
Events
Weaponizing Resistance: Feminist Filmmaking and the Representation of Muslim Women: Masterclass with Artists-in-Residence Seemab Gul and Nida Mehboob
Saturday, October 17, 2020
11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. EST
In this virtual masterclass, Ethnocine-Haverford Artists-in-Residence Seemab Gul and Nida Mehboob will explore the important role of feminism in Muslim countries, the often exploitative representation of South Asian/Afghan women in western media, and the ethics of collaboration and participation for documentary filmmakers, photographers and visual anthropologists.
Organized by Ethnocine Collective & Haverford's VCAM, Co-sponsored by the Center for Experimental Ethnography @UPENN and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.
Bad Feminists Making Films: On Intimacy & Filmmaking
New Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2020
8 p.m., EST
Bad Feminists Making Films will feature short screenings of works-in-progress from women filmmakers who will be discussing the importance of intimacy in feminist ethnographic filmmaking practice. The panel will explore the personal relationships and bonds with family, found family, and friends show how love informs their practices, collaborations, and aesthetics in filmmaking. Featuring the work of Ethnocine Collective members Emily Hong, Miasarah Lai, and Mariangela Mihai, and moderated by Elena Guzman.
Created by two women-led collectives, Ethnocine and Rhiza, Bad Feminists Making Films is a podcast and screening series where we talk to bad feminist filmmakers who are confronting and changing the film industry through intersectional and decolonial practice. Learn more about Bad Feminists Making Films.
Sponsored by Ethnocine, Rhiza, the VCAM Media and Makers Initiative, the Department of Anthropology, and the Visual Studies Program.
