Vocabulary of Abscence + Music Performance

Film Festival: Where the Wind Scatters Seeds;
7.−9. February 2025
Filmhaus Köln

Where The Wind Scatters Seeds, memories bloom from barren ground of tears in the soil, whispers of forgotten friends, shadows of distant homes, erased faces on torn photographs. Echoes of yesterday, dreams of tomorrow. 

Over the course of three days, a carefully curated film program, born from interdisciplinary collaboration - takes shape. 
Weaving together the intersection of memory, dislocation, and radical solidarity, the program uses film to confront, as well as imagine beyond colonial violence and the ways it warps our sense of self, community, time and space. Complimenting the film program with alternative media forms such as food, music, an interactive drawing corner & a healing conversation circle, the cinema is transformed into a space for nurturing ancestral forms of belonging. It reflects on the essence of home—its presence, what it carries, and the void left in its absence. The showcased works examine the act of remembering, transforming archives into dynamic spaces for resistance, reclamation, and processes of un-learning.

Curated by:

Schaho Balbas

Vincent E.

Ido Hassan

Julia Jesionek

Lan Mi Le

Polina Resnianska

Sarah Savalanpour

Shadi Tabibzadeh

Safiya Yon

 

 

 

DAY 2

Our Eyes Have Exhausted the Vocabulary of Death/

Borrowing its title from Etel Adnan’s Jenin, this program brings together films that challenge the colonial and authoritarian use of visual media. By reframing archives as spaces of resistance and reclamation, these works highlight memory’s survival and vulnerability, offering insights into how storytelling can preserve histories, forge solidarity, and foster hope amidst loss.
Organized into three sections—Two Rivers and a Wind, Resisting Oblivion, and Vocabulary of Absence—the program traverses landscapes of conflict and displacement, connecting stories across borders to expose shared struggles and resist erasure.

 

Program #3: Archival Abscence

 

Vocabulary of Absence draws on family archives to reflect on the losses of migration—fractured homes, loved ones left behind, and disrupted social fabrics. By creatively engaging with archival gaps, these films transform absence into a fertile ground for reconstructing stories, enriching both personal and collective memory.

 

Films:

I am trying to remember

3350 KM

x + x = +

Random 13 minutes

 

Curated by Vincent E., Sarah Savalanpour and Shadi Tabibzadeh

 

IMPORTANT NOTES

If you don't have a ticket, come by and we will put you on the waiting list.

If you have a ticket, please come earlier (at least 15min). If you are late, we might give your place to the people on the waiting list.

 

Das sagt der/die Veranstalter:in:

Film Festival: Where the Wind Scatters Seeds;
7.−9. February 2025
Filmhaus Köln

Where The Wind Scatters Seeds, memories bloom from barren ground of tears in the soil, whispers of forgotten friends, shadows of distant homes, erased faces on torn photographs. Echoes of yesterday, dreams of tomorrow. 

Over the course of three days, a carefully curated film program, born from interdisciplinary collaboration - takes shape. 
Weaving together the intersection of memory, dislocation, and radical solidarity, the program uses film to confront, as well as imagine beyond colonial violence and the ways it warps our sense of self, community, time and space. Complimenting the film program with alternative media forms such as food, music, an interactive drawing corner & a healing conversation circle, the cinema is transformed into a space for nurturing ancestral forms of belonging. It reflects on the essence of home—its presence, what it carries, and the void left in its absence. The showcased works examine the act of remembering, transforming archives into dynamic spaces for resistance, reclamation, and processes of un-learning.

Curated by:

Schaho Balbas

Vincent E.

Idil Xaashi Hassan

Julia Jesionek

Lan Mi Lê

Polina Resnianska

Sarah Savalanpour

Shadi Tabibzadeh

Safiya Yon

 

DAY 2: Our Eyes Have Exhausted the Vocabulary of Death
Borrowing its title from Etel Adnan’s Jenin, this program brings together films that challenge the colonial and authoritarian use of visual media. By reframing archives as spaces of resistance and reclamation, these works highlight memory’s survival and vulnerability, offering insights into how storytelling can preserve histories, forge solidarity, and foster hope amidst loss.
Organized into three sections—Two Rivers and a Wind, Resisting Oblivion, and Vocabulary of Absence—the program traverses landscapes of conflict and displacement, connecting stories across borders to expose shared struggles and resist erasure. Together, these works reimagine archives as dynamic spaces that resist erasure and foster solidarity, bridging past and present struggles through the transformative power of storytelling.

 

Program #3: Vocabulary of Abscence + Music Performance
Vocabulary of Absence draws on family archives to reflect on the losses of migration—fractured homes, loved ones left behind, and disrupted social fabrics. By creatively engaging with archival gaps, these films transform absence into a fertile ground for reconstructing stories, enriching both personal and collective memory.

Music performance by Atena Eshtiaghi

Short film program:

I am trying to remember (D: Pegah Ahangarani; Iran/Czech Republic 2021; 15'; Persian, English subtitles)
I asked: "Why have they erased you?" He said: "Maybe they are scared." I said: "Whoever is scared, should erase themselves." He said: "In that case, the faces of the living would all be gone and only the dead would remain."

3350 KM (D: Sara Kontar; France 2023; 13'; Arabic, English subtitles)
Father and daughter have been separated by 3,350 kilometres for seven years. He lives in Syria, she lives in exile in Paris. All they have left is to talk on the internet. The daughter records the conversations.

x + x = + (D: Niyaz Saghari; Iran/UK 2020; 7'; Persian, English subtitles)
+x+=+ is a meditation on the overwhelming process of grief and healing through the use of archive sound and image.

Random 13 minutes (D: Israa Issa Mahameed; 2024; 13'; Arabic, English subtitles)
A Random 13 Minutes captures an intimate phone conversation between Israa Issa Mahameed, living in the peaceful Norway, and her mother in Nablus, one of the most tense areas in Palestine. The conversation was recorded on December 30, 2022, at 3 a.m.

Curated by Vincent E., Sarah Savalanpour and Shadi Tabibzadeh

 

IMPORTANT NOTES
If you don't have a ticket, come by and we will put you on the waiting list.
If you have a ticket, please come earlier (at least 15min). If you are late, we might give your place to the people on the waiting list.

 

Preisinformation:

7,89 € / 4,74 € / 11,05 €

Teilnahmebedingungen für Gewinnspiele