2023 Short Film Showcase
Soon
Saturday, March 11th, 2023
Denver Sie FilmCenter
Synopsis of Film:
This film is about my experience as a child that survived war. The original footage is from super-8mm film my father shot that was then transferred to a variety of video tapes and systems. I was interested in how those moving images mutate and glitch into their own form. This transformation is like the memory, the pain and the history of trauma manifesting visually.
This film is about my experience as a child that survived war. The original footage is from super-8mm film my father shot that was then transferred to a variety of video tapes and systems. I was interested in how those moving images mutate and glitch into their own form. This transformation is like the memory, the pain and the history of trauma manifesting visually.
Usama Alshaibi was born in Baghdad, Iraq and spent his formative years living between the United States and the Middle East. He’s an active filmmaker and artist, who works in documentary and fiction, often blurring the line between the two. His films have screened widely at underground and international film festivals, media exhibitions and museums. He’s received grants from organizations such as the MacArthur Foundation, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, the Playboy Foundation, and the Creative Capital Foundation for the Arts.
His first feature documentary, Nice Bombs, which was shot in Baghdad a few months after the start of the United States invasion of Iraq, had a theatrical release in Chicago and New York, and a broadcast premiere on the Sundance Channel. His experimental narrative film Profane won several awards, including best feature film at the Boston Underground Film Festival. His second documentary feature, American Arab, had its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and was nationally broadcast on television through PBS World Channel. He’s been producing and directing short films and music videos since 1998. Some of his prominent short films include Soon, Here, The Desire, The Muslim Meme, The Flowering, Baghdad, Iowa, Allahu Akbar, Dream of Samarra and Dance Habibi Dance.
Usama lived in Chicago for over 17 years and worked as a digital archivist at the Chicago History Museum, and as a radio host and producer for Chicago Public Media. Currently, Usama is a Teaching Associate Professor at Colorado State University and lives in Colorado with his child, Muneera.
His first feature documentary, Nice Bombs, which was shot in Baghdad a few months after the start of the United States invasion of Iraq, had a theatrical release in Chicago and New York, and a broadcast premiere on the Sundance Channel. His experimental narrative film Profane won several awards, including best feature film at the Boston Underground Film Festival. His second documentary feature, American Arab, had its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), and was nationally broadcast on television through PBS World Channel. He’s been producing and directing short films and music videos since 1998. Some of his prominent short films include Soon, Here, The Desire, The Muslim Meme, The Flowering, Baghdad, Iowa, Allahu Akbar, Dream of Samarra and Dance Habibi Dance.
Usama lived in Chicago for over 17 years and worked as a digital archivist at the Chicago History Museum, and as a radio host and producer for Chicago Public Media. Currently, Usama is a Teaching Associate Professor at Colorado State University and lives in Colorado with his child, Muneera.
Lauren Samblanet is a hybrid writer who cross-pollinates with other forms of making and other makers of forms.
Her first book, like a dog, is forthcoming from Punctum Books. Some of her writing has been published in a Shadow Map: an anthology by survivors of sexual assault, FENCE, Dreginald, Entropy, Bedfellows, The Tiny, Crab Fat Magazine, and Aglimpseof. She is a graduate of Temple University's MFA program.
She is a teacher and facilitator, and offers creative process workshops and support for individuals and collaborators through reinventing creative process.
Her first book, like a dog, is forthcoming from Punctum Books. Some of her writing has been published in a Shadow Map: an anthology by survivors of sexual assault, FENCE, Dreginald, Entropy, Bedfellows, The Tiny, Crab Fat Magazine, and Aglimpseof. She is a graduate of Temple University's MFA program.
She is a teacher and facilitator, and offers creative process workshops and support for individuals and collaborators through reinventing creative process.