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Seed Songs for Palestine
May 20 @ 6:00 pm– 9:00 pm EDT
Free
Tuesday, May 20. 6–9 pm; screening at 7 pm
at Duende (85 Silo City Row, Buffalo, NY 14203)
RSVP below. Free. Click here to learn more about the “Revive Gaza’s Farmland” programme at Arab Group for the Protection of Nature.
Squeaky Wheel is excited to present an evening of short films to benefit the farmlands of Gaza. The screening, curated by wave~form~projects and re:assemblage collective, includes work by Alanis Obomsawin, Cecilia Vicuña, Nicolás Grandi and Lata Mani, Marwa Arsanios, Rana Nazzal Hamadeh, and Ryley Williams. This event has taken place in locations across the world, including in cities such as Cape Town, Glasgow, Jakarta, Oaxaca, Toronto, and cities across the U.S; we are excited to present it in Buffalo.
How to get to Duende: The event will take place at Duende, on the second floor. The address is 85 Silo City Row, Buffalo, NY 14203. Duende is located at 85 Silo City Row. Turn off of Ohio Street onto Silo City Row, then drive through the gate into Silo City. You will be driving through an active construction site. Parking is just past the bar. Duende is a 2-story building on the right hand side just past the red caboose train car. Please note that the second floor is only accessible with stairs.
The Revive Gaza’s Farmlands Project was initiated by Golo Besmlah in collaboration with Arab Centre for the Protection of Nature. Curated by wave~form~projects and re:assemblage collective. The Buffalo iteration of this program is presented by Squeaky Wheel, in collaboration with Silo City, Jewish Voice for Peace – Buffalo, the Food Systems Planning and Healthy Community Lab at the University at Buffalo (aka UB Food Lab). Special thank you to Dee Hartman, Noura al Khasawneh, Samina Raja, Toleen Touq, and all our partners.
About the program
The event will begin at 7pm. Doors will open at 6pm. There will be brief introductions and talks by associates of UB Food Lab, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Squeaky Wheel ahead of the films. We will have samosas available from Ali Baba Kebab and some bottles of water. The bar of Duende will be open through the event.
“The films in Seed Songs for Palestine engage themes of seed sovereignty and Indigenous resilience, highlighting the intrinsic connections between land, culture, and self-determination. Delving into the symbolic and practical importance of seeds, plant life, and relations with land as forms of resistance and continuity for Indigenous communities, the films interrogate the dynamics of freedom and survival in the face of environmental and colonial oppression, while also offering poignant reflections on both the fragility and resilience of existence. Collectively, they illuminate the vital role of seed sovereignty in asserting Indigenous rights and preserving cultural heritage. This collection of shorts presents a rich tapestry of voices and radical perspectives that have existed from time immemorial, considering the intersections of ecological stewardship and self determination which continue to disperse across fertile lands.” – wave~form~projects and re:assemblage collective.
Film program
Duration: 74 minutes
- Cecilia Vicuña, Semiya (Seed song) (2015, Chile, 8 mins)
- Alanis Obomsawin, Farming (1975, Canada, 2 mins)
- Rana Nazzal Hamadeh, We Would Be Freer (2023, Palestine/Canada, 9 mins)
- Marwa Arsanios, Who is Afraid of Ideology, Part I & II (2017-2019, Lebanon/Iraqi Kurdistan, North and East Syria, 39 mins)
- Ryley Williams, it’s amazing that you still exist (2021, Canada, 4 mins)
- Nicolás Grandi and Lata Mani, Nocturne I (2013, India, 5 mins)
Supplemental material from the curators and our partners
Video: The Untold Revolution: Food Sovereignty in Palestine (26 mins), Ameen Nayfeh, 2021
Video: Seeds are meant to disperse (8.5 mins), Christina Battle, 2022. More information.
Reading: Forgotten history: a vision for Palestinian refugees’ agricultural self-sufficiency, Nadi Abu Saada, 2023
Reading: Planning and Food Sovereignty in Conflict Cities: Insights From Urban Growers in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir by Raja, S., Parvaiz, A., Sanders, L., Judelsohn, A., Guru, S., Bhan, M., … Frimpong Boamah, E. Journal of the American Planning Association, 2022
Reading: UB’s Food Lab partners with prominent Kashmiri poet Zareef Ahmad Zareef to celebrate an important Indigenous green called haak, University at Buffalo, 2024. Read more about UB Food Lab’s global work here.
