Commissioned Films

Plot for a Biennial will present six short fiction and non-fiction films commissioned by the Sharjah Biennial, inspired from the keywords outlined in the conceptual framework. Participants include: filmmaker and visual artist Karim Ainouz (Brazil); filmmakers and visual artists Rania Attiah (Lebanon) and Daniel Garcia (US); filmmaker Hicham Ayouch (Morocco); filmmaker Ali Essafi (Morocco); writer, actor and filmmaker, Sean Gullette (US); and filmmaker, cinematographer and editor Bahman Kiarostami (Iran).

The commissioned film program will also include the screening of a non-fiction feature-length narrative by Lebanese producer and filmmaker Rania Stephan, co-produced by the Biennial, and host the screening of Lebanese artist and filmmaker Akram Zaatari's new short film.

Curated Films

Plot for a Biennial will present a series of curated programs of short films, screened in the cinema of the Institute for Theatrical Arts throughout the Biennial. Internationally acclaimed curators and programmers were each invited to propose a screening program that comprised works inspired by the biennial's themes, each mapping a geographical focus.

Curators of the screening program include: Solange Farkas, Founder and Director of the Associação Cultural Videobrasil, São Paolo; Steve Reinke, Canadian video artist and writer; Marcel Schwierin, Berlin-based curator, filmmaker, and editor of cinovid.org; Keith Shiri, founder and director of Africa at the Pictures and the London African Film Festival; and, What, How and for Whom (WHW), a curators’ collective based in Croatia.