SOME STRINGS

“Each memory that is freed is the first step for all memories to gather”
Edouard Glissant

Filmmakers and artists from around the world have formed Some strings, an ensemble of unreleased filmic gestures that that is rooted in Palestine, where poet and teacher Refaat Alareer was targeted by Israeli strikes along with seven members of his family.

In his last poem, If I Must Die, published five weeks before his murder, Refaat Alareer calls those who should live to create a kite - a long-standing object of resistance- with bits of string and Some Strings, just like each of his readers, receives it as a legacy. The kites here are a diversity of views that share a space against the silences, international indifference and continued approval of states, which are already fabricating memorial confusions about the greatest civilian massacre of the 21st century. 

The systematic extermination of the Palestinian people on Palestinian soil is taking place before our very eyes, and international diplomacy is failing to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal actions.
“It’s important to remember that genocide occurs whenever we deny the organic link of populations to genos, to what we have in common. When Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says that there are “human animals” opposite, he is pedagogically expressing genocidal intentions. When the President of Israel says that there is no difference between civilians and combatants and subjects the entire Palestinian population to collective punishment, when Israeli government ministers claim that the use of nuclear bombs against Gaza is plausible, (…), when we discover plans for the mass displacement of Palestinians, when the Israeli Minister for Social Equality and Women’s Empowerment declares that she is “proud of the ruins of Gaza” and that, in 80 years’ time, “all babies will be able to tell their grandchildren what the Jews did there”, we are confronted not only with genocidal intentions, but with one of the most sordid and intolerable declarations of the cult of violence imaginable.” Vladimir Safatle, April, 2024 (São Paulo University).
Launched in March 2024, Some Strings has so far brought together over 100 artists, producing nearly 6 hours of short films, shown since June 25 and with no limit on dates, all over the world: cinemas and festivals as pre-programs or continuously. Some Strings can be adapted to all kinds of community spaces, protest camps and arts centers.
This initiative will continue to build and its diffusion will take place over the short, medium and long term.

 

if i must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
if i must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale

Refaat Alareer, “If I Must Die”

 

Artists:
alain gomis, alain kassanda, alexia roux & saad chakali, ali arkady, ali cherri, alice brygo, amel alzakout, amie barouh, anhar salem, anne penders, annik leroy & julie morel, apichatpong weerasethakul, aude fourel, axelle poisson, bahia bencheikh el fegoun, basma al-sharif, baya medhaffar, ben rivers, ben russell, bani khoshnoudi, bo wang, bruce clarke, charlie shackleton, christophe clavert, claire fontaine, collectif hawaf, corinne castel, dalila mahdjoub, dania reymond, daniela ortiz, declan clarke, djamel kerkar, douglas gordon, dora garcía, elena lópez riera & philippe azoury, éléonore weber,ellie ga, eric baudelaire & claire atherton & marius atherton, eva giolo, eyal sivan, fernanda pessoa, francis alÿs, franssou prenant, génesis scarlet valenzuela valdez, ghassan salhab, hassen ferhani, idit nathan, ignacio agüero, ismaïl bahri, jayce salloum, jeremiah mosese, jerónimo atehortúa, jilani saadi, joie estrella horwitz, julie courel, juruna mallon, kamal aljafari, khaled abdulwahed, kiswendsida parfait kaboré, khristine gillard & mohammad hammash & filip momikj, kyoshi sugita, lana daher, laura huertas millán, lav diaz, léandre bernard brunel, lene berg, leos carax, lucie kerr, m’hand abadou djezairi & marcel mrejen, mali arun, maria aparicio, marielle chabal, marwa arsanios, maryam tafakory, mehdi meklat & badroudine saïd abdallah, michaël andrianaly, mira adoumier, misha zavalniy, mitra farahani, mohamed bourouissa, mohanad yaqubi, monica maurer, muriel modr, nadia ghanem, narimane mari, naël khleifi, niles atallah, noma omran & ossama mohammed, newton ifeanyi aduaka, onyeka igwe, pablo sigg, philip rizk, philippe parreno, pierre creton, primo mauridi, raman djafari, renée nader messora & joão salaviza, saif fradj & mahshid mahboubifar, safia benhaim, samir guesmi, sarah beddington, sarah wood, sepideh farsi, serge garcia, sharon lockhart, silvia maglioni & graeme thomson, simplice herman ganou, soumeya ait ahmed & nadir bouhmouch, suneil sanzgiri, tariq teguia, taysir batniji, ugo rodinone, valentin noujaïm, valérie massadian, valérie osouf & cromix onana, victor missud, virgil vernier, wendelien van oldenborgh & cathleen schuster & marcel dickhage (titre provisoire), wiame haddad, wilmarc val, yann gonzales & alain garcia vergara, yannick kergoat, yohei yamakado, yosr gasmi & mauro mazzocchi, youssef chebbi (more strings to come).

Program schedule and events: some-strings.org
contact: somestrings.boutsdeficelles@gmail.com