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Film Screening and discussion
Foragers, 2022, Directed by Jumana Manna's
Doors will be open at 6 pm and the screening starts at 6:30 pm
VIVO Media Arts Centre is hosting from the river to the sea, a global collective initiative established by a group of displaced media artists and activists all in solidarity with Palestine. from the river to the sea is supporting oppressed narratives, initiating dialogues, nurturing systems of care, and drawing upon our audiences to be proactive in their support while thinking about how we organize towards our collective liberation, from Turtle Island to Palestine.
Their second screening is in collaboration with MENA Film Festival where they bring Foragers, 2022, directed by Jumana Manna to you. Join us for this event taking place on November 15th, in support and solidarity with Palestinians. Followed by a conversation.
We are coming together in the urgency of this moment - a moment 76 years in the making - to think about Palestine. To think about indigeneity, settler colonialism, apartheid, environmental justice, sovereignty and self-determination. The Palestinian cause is inseparable from its history of occupation, oppression and resistance. It calls upon us to reflect upon our own positionalities in relationship to their continuous struggle and that of Indigenous people across the world.
This film is subtitled. For more information contact distribution@vivomediaarts.com.
Foragers depicts the dramas surrounding the practice of foraging for wild edible plants in Palestine/Israel with wry humor and a meditative pace. Shot in the Golan Heights, the Galilee, and Jerusalem, it employs fiction, documentary, and archival footage to portray the impact of Israeli nature protection laws on these customs. The restrictions prohibit the collection of the artichoke-like 'akkoub and za'atar (thyme) and have resulted in fines and trials for hundreds caught collecting these native plants. For Palestinians, these laws constitute an ecological veil for legislation that further alienates them from their land, while Israeli state representatives insist on their scientific expertise and duty to protect.
Following the plants from the wild to the kitchen, from the chases between the foragers and the nature patrol to courtroom defenses, "Foragers" captures the joy and knowledge embodied in these traditions alongside their resilience to the prohibitive law. By reframing the terms and constraints of preservation, the film raises questions around the politics of extinction, namely, who determines what is made extinct and what gets to live on.
VIVO is located in the homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples in a warehouse space at 2625 Kaslo Street south of East Broadway at the end of E 10th. Transit line 9 stops at Kaslo Street on Broadway. From the bus stop, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight decline. The closest skytrain station is Renfrew Station, which is three blocks south-east of VIVO and has an elevator. From there, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight incline. There is parking available at VIVO, including wheelchair access parking. There is a bike rack at the entrance. The front entrance leads indoors to a set of 7 stairs to the lobby.
A wheelchair ramp is located at the west side of the main entrance. The ramp has two runs: the first run is 20 feet long, and the second run is 26 feet. The ramp is 60 inches wide. The slope is 1:12. The ramp itself is concrete and has handrails on both sides. There is an outward swinging door (34 inch width) at the top of the ramp leading to a vestibule. A second outward swinging door (33 inch width) opens into the exhibition space. Buzzers and intercoms are located at both doors to notify staff during regular office hours or events to unlock the doors. Once unlocked, visitors can use automatic operators to open the doors.
There are two all-gender washrooms. One has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The other is a single room with a urinal and is wheelchair accessible: the door is 33 inches wide and inward swinging, without automation. The toilet has 11 inch clearance on the left side and a handrail.
To reach the bathrooms from the studio, exit through the double doors and proceed straight through the lobby and down the hall . Turn left, and the two bathrooms will be on your right side. The closest one has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The far bathroom is accessible.
Jumana Manna is a visual artist and filmmaker. Her work explores how power is articulated, focusing on the body, land and materiality in relation to colonial inheritances and histories of place. Through sculpture, filmmaking, and occasional writing, Manna deals with the paradoxes of preservation practices, particularly within the fields of archaeology, agriculture and law. Her practice considers the tension between the modernist traditions of categorisation and conservation and the unruly potential of ruination as an integral part of life and its regeneration. Jumana was raised in Jerusalem and lives in Berlin.
