Hanina/Homesick, an animated film produced by The Narrating Nubia project led by Yasmin Moll, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, has been selected by the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to compete in the Perspectives category, the Arab American National Museum’s Film Festival in Dearborn, and the Margaret Mead Film Festival. The short film follows a young Nubian girl as she embarks on a journey back in time to reconnect with her drowned homeland. In 1964 the Aswan High Dam in southern Egypt led to the mass displacement of Nubian villagers from their ancestral homeland. This film draws on salvaged ethnographic photos of these drowned Nubian villages, reimagining them as a visual accompaniment to an iconic displacement song from the 1960s.
The main animator of Hanina/Homesick is team member Karson Schenk (Stamps ‘21). She was a member of the “Nostalgic Futures” team, exploring the potential of illustration for animating nostalgic memory as a form of collaborative activism.
The Annecy Festival was created in 1960 and takes place June 9 -15, 2024, in the town of Annecy, France. The festival is one of four sponsored by the International Animated Film Association and is one of the most prestigious animation festivals worldwide.
The Arab American National Museum’s 2024 Arab Film Festival showcases Arab and Arab American Films and will take place both in person and virtually May 15-19.
The Margaret Mead Film Festival is hosted by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. It is the longest-running premiere showcase for international documentaries in the United States. This year the Margaret Mead festival is May 9-12.