The Culturist Film Club x Jameel Arts Centre on June 20: Memories of Princess Mumbi
The Culturist Film Club returns to Jameel Arts Centre for a second edition Jameel’s Summer Cinema programme, in collaboration with The Culturist Film Club.
I’ve put together a programme of five films screening on alternate Saturdays between 20 June and 15 August, starting at 19:30.
I will introduce each one and guest speakers will join me for post screening discussions to discuss the films, respond to the themes and invite the audience to join the conversation. There will be snacks and drinks too.
All the screenings are free to attend, but pre-registration is required.
We will start the season with a genre shifting film set in a futuristic African country, a film about love, loss, memories and technology.
MEMORIES OF PRINCESS MUMBI
Damien Hauser, 2025, 82 min
In 2093, filmmaker Kuve travels to Umata to document the aftermath of a war that revived ancient kingdoms. There, he meets Mumbi, who challenges him to make his film without AI. As Kuve searches for his own voice, he begins to understand that even in a broken world, beauty can be found in small human moments we often overlook. A thrilling work of speculative cinema that draws deeply on past cinematic tradition, Memories of Princess Mumbi asks what it means to bear witness — and what is at stake when we surrender that act to machines.
“A thrilling pointer to the future that draws deeply on past cinematic tradition.” — Stephen Dalton, The Film Verdict
The screening will be followed by a discussion with artist and filmmaker Amirah Tajdin.
Date: June 21, 19:30-21:30
Venue: Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai (location map)
Free to attend, please register here.
Director’s Bio:
Damien Hauser is a Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker, writer, and director. He studied film at SAE from 2016 to 2020 and worked for the commercial production company Filme von Draussen. Throughout his career, Damien has produced a wide range of short films, music videos, plays, and commercials, always driven by his passion for fictional storytelling. In recent years, he has completed three feature films that have screened at major international festivals including Tallinn Black Nights, IFFR Rotterdam, and BFI London. His films have also received several awards and are available on platforms such as Netflix. In 2024, he founded Hauserfilm, a production company through which he continues to bring captivating and globally resonant stories to life on the big screen. Memory of Princess Mumbi premiered in 2025 at Giornate degli Autori, an independent sidebar of the Venice International Film Festival.
Speaker’s Bio:
Amirah Tajdin is an artist and filmmaker. She graduated from Rhodes University with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Photography) in South Africa and Goucher College Maryland (USA). Over a ten year period of film-making she has crafted a signature style of blending reality with fiction through her strong visual language in both her commercial and cinematic work. This has seen her helm campaigns for branded content, fashion films, music videos and TVCs for brands such as Cadillac, Saudi Tourism, Adidas, SPANX, Bloomingdales, Virgin Mobile, Pepsi and the Louvre Abu Dhabi make up some of her portfolio. The latter being a case study film for TBWA/RAAD’s Cannes Golden Lion for ‘The Highway Gallery Project’. Her branded content film SISTERHOOD: ACTION for Girls Who Code was a Tribeca X Award 2019 finalist. She is a Sundance Institute fellow making her the first Kenyan director to be selected for both the Screenwriters Labs (Utah, 2017) and Director’s Lab (Utah, 2018) for her feature film currently in development. Her short film Marea di Tierra was in main competition at Sundance (2016) and Cannes Director’s Fortnight (2015) and went on to play over 20 festivals globally. She has also directed various award winning and nominated short films and feature length documentaries. She forms the creative half of SEVEN THIRTY Films and indie production company, which she founded in 2011 alongside her sister, producer Wafa Tajdin. She is represented for commercials by RadicalMedia (London+Berlin) and Loveboat (Paris).
https://amirahtajdin.com
Links to the rest of the screenings:
Jameel’s Summer Cinema 2026: in collaboration with The Culturist Film Club
July 04 — John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office
July 18 — Afterlives
August 01 — Do You Love Me
August 15 — The Blazing Sun