Personal Highlights of 2025

Musings
Written By Hind Mezaina

A rundown of personal highlights and things I’ve worked on this year: 

 

ARTIST RESIDENCIES / EXHIBITIONS / NEW WORKS

  • Arab Stardom Mini-Residency + Faten Hamama’s Kiss

Still from the video essay Faten Hamama’s Kiss

In June participated in the Arab Stardom Mini-Residency organised by the Arab British Centre and Safar Film Festival which resulted in a new video essay titled Faten Hamama’s Kiss.

The video essays made by all the participants were screened at The Garden Cinema.

Wrote more about this here.

 

  • Sonja Savić Residency + Solo Exhibition: Performances, Portrayals

Between September and October I did an artist residency in Čačak, Serbia, part of the Sonja Savić Award & Residency I received at the Alternative Film/Video Festival in 2023. It is organised by the Nadežda Petrović Art Gallery, and part of their Sonja September biennial.

My residency also included a solo exhibition titled Performances, Portrayals. You can read all about this here.

The residency continued into Belgrade where I stayed for 3 days and also gave a talk.

It was lovely to see flyers and billboard ads of my events displayed and me think how we never see art exhibitions advertised publicly in Dubai.

 

  • New works

Flowers Always Make People Better is a new video I started during the residency and is near completion.

It consists of footage I shot in Čačak and inspired by the student protests that have been happening in Serbia since November 2024.

I also started working on a Sonja Savić Video Essay (working title) and aiming to complete it in the coming months.


Top two: Still from Flowers Always Make People Better
Bottom two: Stills from the Sonja Savić Video Essay

 
 

Additional screenings of A Performance of Valour:

  • Frame Fellow
    May 16, SEAF Studios, Abu Dhabi

Frame Fellow, Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship’s internal moving image and sound platform for moving image, alternative cinema, and live sound, creating a space for artists whose works exist beyond mainstream visibility.

Rooted in the spirit of collaboration and exchange, the initiative emerged from an art fellowship, embracing the ethos of "fellow" as a peer-driven, artist-led endeavor. Through screenings and sonic interventions, Frame Fellow seeks to initiate dialogue on how moving image can be experienced.

 

ALTERNATIVE FILM VIDEO FESTIVAL 2025
REW/FFWD

In a year when contemporary production encounters unexpected obstacles, our festival finds strength and refuge in memory. Through the slogan REWIND, we are committed to a deep dive into the rich heritage of alternative film and into the glorious past of the festival itself. The intention is clear: to return to the roots and re-illuminate the priceless works that have formed the core of the film experiment and critical spirit for decades. For our authors and audience, REWIND is not just nostalgia. It is an act of preserving the vision and a reminder that true creative resistance has always been born out of scarcity and the need to express the truth against all odds. In that return, we find the fuel for FORWARD - the hope that the unquenchable need to create freely continues, regardless of circumstances. We believe that the greatest power of alternative film lies in its history. Thank you to all the visionaries and partners who keep the flame under these circumstances.

 
 


NEW PROJECT: COLLECTED HISTORIES: PERSONAL ARCHIVES AND DOCUMENTAION

Collected Histores: Personal Archives and Documentation is a collaboration with Jasmine Soliman, an archivist and founder of RepCinema. The Collected Histories family also includes Jon Burr, an archivist whose personal research is around digitization of, and access to, family archives.

Collected Histories event in June, photo courtesy of 421 Arts Campus and The Frei

We hosted two events, and very successful ones I might add, at 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi who have been very supportive and encouraging. I wrote about the first one here. Jasmine and I also got together for one of my film club screenings, more about that further down.

We have a website for this project that lists the events we’ve hosted so far, and includes regular additions of recommended readings and archive resources - www.collectedhistories.com. We’re working on scheduling more events for 2026.

We got included in a feature titled The Living Archive and The Enduring Ephemeral written by Hadi Afif for ICON magazine.

 
 


ONGOING PROJECTS

Programme 1:Cities, Cinema and People + Guest Speaker: Bentley Brown
Behind the Sun (Bentley Brown, 2023)
Cairo, As Told By Chahine (Youssef Chahine, 1991)

Programme 2: In Memory of David Lynch + Guest Speaker: Rebecca Crookshank
A selection of works by David Lynch (60 min)

Programme 3: Rematerialising the Archive + Guest Speaker: Jasmine Soliman
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing (Theo Panagopoulos, 2024)
Scenes of Extraction (Sanaz Sohrabi, 2023)

Programme 4: Home, Longing and Solitude + Guest Speaker Sarah Alhashimi
Why is My Grandfather’s Bed in Our Living Room? (Sarah Alhashimi, 2021)
Practical Dreams (Yulia Piskuliyska, 2019)
The Tobacconist (Keifer Nyron Taylor, 2024)
Tender Loving Care (Kalina Pulit, 2023)

All the screenings were well attended and the post screening discussions with the guest speakers and audience were very engaging and thoughtful. But the one that stood out the most was the David Lynch night which far exceeded my expectations, I wrote about it here.

Other film related work:

Blog and Newsletter:

 
 

TRAVELS AND FILM FESTIVALS

I returned to the cities I’ve been visiting for the past few years - London, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Vienna.

Besides Cacak, Brussels (for one day) and Istanbul (for two days) were the new ones I visited this year. Belgrade was a city I’ve been to as a kid many, many, many years ago when it was still in a country called Yugoslavia. Maybe I should also count this visit as a first time.

 

In Istanbul, I reunited with Wael Hattar my culture and Tea with Culture podcast partner, a two years in a row reunion after London last year. We walked along the Bosphorus, attended some of the Istanbul Biennial exhibitions that were on the way, ate delicious food. I wrote last year that we talked about getting back to the podcast this year, which didn’t happen. BUT…plans are underway to record something soon.

 
 
 


OUTSIDE ART/CULTURE BUBBLE

There are many cultural communities in Dubai that have their own following who show up a lot more compared to the ‘culturati’ of Dubai, who mostly attend openings, art fairs, “members only” gatherings to network, be seen and with a show shallow interest in art. It was also a reminder to myself that not everything ‘cultural’ worth attending is in a gallery or art institution.

A friend was one of the singers and the evening included solo performances, readings and also getting children from the audience to join on stage. The Dubai version of Twelve Days of Christmas was hilarious. It should be recorded and released. The evening felt like old-school Dubai, circa 1980s-90s.

 

⛔ this is not a gig.
it’s Nice2MeetU!! — a heatwave disguised as a community meet-up 🥵

🗓 Aug 22 | 📍 Raw Music Store, Al Quoz | ⏰ 6PM
(it’s 45°C. that’s part of the vibe.)

👁‍🗨 featuring:
* Shilpa Ananth X Beatbox Ray
* Manic Mundane Kolektib
* She Listens to Nargaroth Because Our Cat is German
* WYWY (DJ set)
📺 Visuals by Memoryall

🔴 special guest: SUGARKISS (PH)

🎬 And the much-awaited (frozen-in-time) music video drop from WYWY

no stage, no barriers. just you + halo-halo friends figuring it out in real time.
Hosted by Soundlab by RAW Music Store

 

Each month, fearless speakers step into the unknown, presenting slides they’ve never seen before on a topic chosen at random by our infamous Wheel of Destiny. From a high-stakes Movie Pitch to an over-the-top Motivational Speech, they’ll have to think fast, impress our panel of judges, and battle it out for the title of PowerPointless Champion of the Month.

I attended the one held in June with friends and we all had great laugh. I’d like to attend more.

 

  • Khaneh Tekani organised by screenwriter, playwright, and artist Rebecca Crookshank where she a displayed a selection of vintage clothes and objects from her private collection, many for sale.

    Held over five days in The Red Room inside the Total Arts Gallery, she shared with visitors stories behind the clothes and objects, had a typewriter for visitors to write whatever they wanted. I went one morning and had a lovely time, talking about travel, music, films, trying some of the clothes and even using a typewriter which I haven’t in years.

KHANEH TEKANI خانه تكان “Shaking the House”
👗 My FIRST exhibition, sparked by Nowruz rituals (Persian New Year). Over seventy heritage pieces that defy time + unravel secrets 💌 These rebellious wearable treasures are ready to disrupt your wardrobe 🪡Join me to breathe new life into old threads 🧵 + celebrate sustainable vintage fashion 🧶

 

I wrote about it and the after concert gig, which was the cherry on top that night, here.



 

Lastly, but not a highlight, I would like to end this post by remembering a friend of my brother who committed suicide over the summer. The shock and sadness still feels fresh. My brother wrote a few words about it here.

Whenever I think of him, I remember dancing to Friendly Fires’ Paris (Aeroplane Remix) with him and my brother at iBO in the late 2000s.

Suicide is still a taboo subject here in the UAE and whilst there’s no official suicide prevention helpline, I found a few emergency care numbers via The LightHouse Arabia, a wellbeing centre in Dubai, and listed them below.

Repeating what my brother wrote, “please remember to check up on your loved ones, and remind them that they are never alone in this world”.

RIP T.


via The LightHouse Arabia:

In the event that you experience a psychiatric emergency, or are seriously considering self-harm or suicide, or pose a risk to another, a safety protocol needs to be in place that includes informing your emergency contact and attending the nearest hospital with psychiatric admission.
If you are feeling vulnerable and need immediate support, the following places will provide emergency care:

Rashid Hospital, ER (Oud Metha)
T. 04 219 1000/2000

Al Amal Hospital (Al Aweer)
T. 04 519 2154

Al Jalila Hospital (Al Jaddaf)
For 18 years and under
T. 800 2524

Foundation for Women & Children (Al Aweer)
T. 04 606 0300
T. 800 111 SMS: 5111 (Helpline)

CDA Child Protection
T. 800 988
E. child@cda.gov.ae


Past personal highlights:
2019
2021
2022
2023
2024

Hind Mezaina
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Cinema Roundup + Favourite Films: December 2025