MiQ festival: exhibition, screenings, discussions

The MiQ group is organising its first festival on 7 and 8 January. The festival will open with an art exhibition by members of the group on the migrant experience. Afterwards, two films will be screened: ‘A Tale from the Past’ (Përrallë nga kaluara) by Dhimitër Anagnosti and ‘NËNA’ by Ya Pihi Irakema. After the screenings, there will be open discussions with the audience and guest speakers.

A few words about the group:

“We are MiQ, second generation immigrants from Albania to Greece. Our collective aims through Albanian-language cinema and diaspora art to act reparatively, as far as we are concerned, and assertively, as far as our position in the country is concerned. We are organizing screenings, hugs and discussions that have been long overdue, that we have wanted for a long time and are only now, belatedly, for the first time receiving. We are here to show the parts of Albanian cinema that we love, but also to explore, deconstruct and undo the propaganda suffered by previous generations, as well as the patriarchal and phobic notions that have developed inside and outside of cinema. Subtitling represents us, because we have always done it, we have always translated Greece to our parents and Albania to our friends, because subtitling is that in-between, the bridge we want to build. We are the effort to read subtitles while watching a film.” / https://www.facebook.com/miqitalb

A few words about the films:

A Tale from the Past / Përrallë nga e kaluara (1987, 86′, Dhimitër Anagnosti): Marigot, the protagonist of the film, comes from a very poor family and is forced to marry the much younger 14-year-old Gino, who comes from a wealthy and well-known family in the village, to take over completely the work of his family’s house and fields. This absurd situation is made possible by the class power of Gino’s family, with the support of the state apparatus and the blessings of the religious body. Marigot and Gino and Trim, the man with whom Marigot is in love, devise a plan to ridicule the authorities and the church and take control of their lives.

NËNA (2020, 16′, Ya Pihi Irakema): Although her daily life is full and still active, her fear of what will happen to her daughter after she dies overcomes her. NËNA in Albanian means both grandmother and mother.

Program:

Saturday:
13:00 – 16:00 / Art Exhibition
17:00 – 19:00 / Film screenings
20:00 – 21:30 / Open discussion about the films

Sunday:
13:00 – 16:00 / Art Exhibition
17:00 – 19:00 / Film Screenings
20:00 – 21:30 / Panel and Open Discussion on Queer Feminist and Immigration Movement