The Museum of Modern Art Modern presents An Evening with Mohamed Soueid on October 17, 7:00 p.m.
In conjunction with Mapping Subjectivity: Experimentation in Arab Cinema from the 1960s to Now, Part II, Mohamed Soueid (b. 1959, Lebanon), presents his performance and slide lecture Written in the Dust. A pioneer of Lebanese independent and experimental video production, Soueid began his career writing film criticism in the 1970s. He began his filmmaking career as assistant director to a number of filmmakers before he directing his first film, Absence (1990), which is believed to be the first independent video production in Lebanon. He also directed two subsequent features, both screened in the film series, Tango of Yearning (1998) and My Heart Beats Only for Her (2009). Written in the Dust proposes a bold, uncanny coupling of Middle Eastern history—and particularly the Lebanese civil war—with the history of cinema.
Narrated in the first person and woven with autobiographical elements, the work caustically challenges received canons and conventional paradigms, but beyond the humor is a bold proposal for a radical rewriting of regional and personal history.
Program 90 min.
Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film and Rasha Salti, Senior Director, ArteEast.