The sea “feeds and kills”, according to Trinh T. Minh-ha. It is at once a site of globalised labour and treacherous migration, yet its vastness stretches far beyond human intervention and interpretation. Through the repeated image of the ocean across four short films, an indissoluble connection to the world emerges, one that becomes the basis for a practice of implication, remembrance, and care.
Join us for an evening of short films and a writing workshop where we will probe how narratives of migration are constructed and consumed. Beyond documentary’s paternalistic illusion of allowing subjects to “speak for themselves”, how can we revel in local opacities, refusing to package our experiences into neat, legible boxes? Through experimentation with form, we ask what solidarities and responsibilities can arise at the limits of representation and meaning.
This event is organised by An Việt Archives and Jjambbong Film, and hosted at The People's Letters. All proceeds will go towards three families in Gaza, and to The People’s Letters.
Films:
Families
- Maram (45) is a single mother of three. She was a great baker who makes delicious sweets and bread for a living in North Gaza. She has been displaced 4 times and is currently based in Deir al-Balah. She is being directly supported by Phương Anh
- Abood is a young law student from Gaza who was injured by an Israeli drone and needs urgent medical care. We are raising money for him to be evacuated to Ireland, where he has an offer to continue his studies in Law at the University of Galway.
Raed is a young man in Gaza who is displaced with his entire family. While surviving bombings, he managed to not only graduate high school but receive a scholarship to attend university. Unfortunately, he has not been able to take his place because he doesn’t have a laptop that would enable him to study programming. Aria Danaparamita is currently raising funds to help Raed so he can attend university. Your support will help him achieve his dream!
Organisers
An Việt Archives is a repository of community archives of Vietnamese history in the UK and beyond. Not just a collection of materials to be cared for by today’s dutiful descendants, it's also conversations and collectivity to imagine tomorrow’s ancestors. We are an ongoing exploration of archives, alternatives, memory work, and community history. We believe that an archive is not just a collection of materials; rather, these mediums are forms of meaning, memory, and knowledge-making.
Jjambbong is a community cinema collective dedicated to showcasing all kinds of Asian cinema. Jjambbong is a Korean-Chinese seafood soup, as well as a slang term in Korean for a mix of everything, which is reflective of our hybrid programming. Through discussion, food, and fansubbing, we hope to open up a space for inter-diaspora solidarity and critical cinephilia.
The People's Letters is a worker-led, cooperatively run bookshop in East London, born of resilience, solidarity and the refusal to be silenced. After being union busted, the workers have managed to rebuild a thriving, worker-run bookshop rooted in collective power, with the support of our community and the help of our friends and comrades. By hosting regular community events and sharing the space with RELEASE Hub Reduction Hub, the bookshop also functions as a community living room for local residents, people from marginalised and vulnerable backgrounds.