A graphic for Nikah with the name, date, and location of the event

[10/25/24] Nikah: A New Uyghur Film

Friday, October 25th, 2024

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET

Harry Harding Auditorium, Room 213

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052

Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies’ Uyghur Studies Initiative for a film screening and discussion with the directors of the film Nikah! This film is an important part of the Uyghur diaspora’s artwork discussing the ongoing crisis in Xinjiang and how it uniquely impacts women.
 
Dilber is 27, and her mother wants to quickly find a husband for her — especially now that her younger sister Rena is settling into newly married life. But it’s 2017, a time when Uyghur people are being arrested without people knowing why. And one of those detained is Rena’s husband, questioned and held by the local district committee.

Subtle and carefully observed, Nikah is a powerful mid-length feature that captures the uncertainty of a young woman at a personal crossroads, while an immense tragedy of internment unfolds. As tensions rise and fears mount, Dilber’s regular FaceTime chats with a friend in Paris convince her that her best hope lies in marrying a young Uyghur man in France. But will that be enough?

Join the Sigur Center, the Inter Asian and Altaic Studies at Harvard University, and the Asia Society’s ChinaFile to discuss the film with the director.

Speakers

A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera
Mukaddas Mijit is an ethnomusicologist, filmmaker, dancer, and choreographer, born in Urumchi in the Uyghur region. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, working on Uyghur artistic reaction in the diaspora after the human rights crisis in the Uyghur region. Nikah is her first medium-length film.
 
A picture of Dominik Mierzeejewski, smiling and looking at the camera
Bastien Ehouzan is co-founder of KIDAM, a film production company based in Bordeaux and Paris, founded in 2010. He has partnered with the production company L’Endroit since 2018. Nikah is his first medium-length film.
 
Sigur Center logo with line art of Asian landmarks

poster for cocktail part movie screening

10/24/2019: “Cocktail Party” Film Screening and Director’s Talk

collage of logos for the event

 

Thursday, October 24, 2019

6:00 PM – 8:45 PM

B12

Elliott School of International Affairs

1957 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20052

poster for cocktail part movie screening

Join us for a free movie screening of “Cocktail Party” and a discussion with the film’s director, Theodore Regge Life, and moderated by Dr. Steve Rabson, Professor Emeritus of East Asian Studies at Brown University.

Movie: When the daughter of a Japanese businessman in Okinawa charges that a U.S. serviceman assaulted her, the serviceman claims the encounter was entirely consensual. The ensuing civil and military investigations bring to light persistent resentment going back many years on both sides about the human toil of accommodating long term military occupation.

This event is free and open to the public.

colorful collage of headshots of activists and figureheads on the Korean comfort women issue; text: Welcome to the Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue

9/27/2019 Film Screening, “Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue”

Sigur Center logo with transparent background
GW Institute for Korean Studies official banner with transparent background
logo of the GW global women's institute

Friday, September 27, 2019
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Room 602, Lindner Family Commons
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

poster for shusenjo film screening event

Synopsis

The “comfort women” issue is perhaps Japan’s most contentious present-day diplomatic quandary. Inside Japan, the issue is dividing the country across clear ideological lines. Supporters and detractors of “comfort women” are caught in a relentless battle over empirical evidence, the validity of oral testimony, the number of victims, the meaning of sexual slavery, and the definition of coercive recruitment. Credibility, legitimacy and influence serve as the rallying cry for all those involved in the battle. In addition, this largely domestic battleground has been shifted to the international arena, commanding the participation of various state and non-state actors and institutions from all over the world.  This film delves deep into the most contentious debates and uncovers the hidden intentions of the supporters and detractors of comfort women. Most importantly it finds answers to some of the biggest questions for Japanese and Koreans: Were comfort women prostitutes or sex slaves? Were they coercively recruited?  And, does Japan have a legal responsibility to apologize to the former comfort women?

This event is on the record, and open to the public.

Photo credit to No Man Productions, LLC.

 

Director

black and white portrait of miki dezaki

Miki Dezaki is a recent graduate of the Graduate Program in Global Studies at Sophia University in Tokyo.  He worked for the Japan Exchange Teaching Program for five years in Yamanashi and Okinawa before becoming a Buddhist monk in Thailand for one year.  He is also known as “Medamasensei” on Youtube, where he has made comedy videos and videos on social issues in Japan. His most notable video is “Racism in Japan,” which led to numerous online attacks by Japanese neo-nationalists who attempted to deny the existence of racism and discrimination against Zainichi Koreans (Koreans with permanent residency in Japan) and Burakumin (historical outcasts still discriminated today). “Shusenjo” is his directorial debut.

Sultan Agung movie poster with painting of a Sultan in the background

12/2/2018: LA Indonesian Film Festival (LAIFF): Sultan Agung Movie Screening

logo of the Los Angeles Indonesian Film Festival
logo of the embassy of indonesia in washington dc
logo of the sigur center with transparent background
logo of Permias DC

Sunday, December 2, 2018 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Harry Harding Auditorium
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

 

poster for movie called Sultan Agung

About the Event:

The Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Organization of Asian Studies, Permias DC, the Embassy of Indonesia, and the LA Indonesian Film Festival will conduct a “Sultan Agung” movie screening and discussion with Hanung Bramantyo (the producer) and Marthino Lio (the actor). This movie is nominated as the best movie in the Festival Film Indonesia (FFI) 2018.

Schedule of the Event:

12:15 PM – 1:00 PM: Doors Open & Registration
1:00 PM – 1:10 PM: Welcoming Remarks
1:15 PM – 3:45 PM: Feature Film Presentation
3:45 PM – 4:00 PM: Program Break
4:00 PM – 4:45 PM: Q&A Discussion with Film Director and Actor
4:45PM – 5:15 PM: Program Conclusion

11/11/2018: Film Screening: The Tale of Samurai Cooking – A True Love Story

Sigur Center logo with transparent background

Sunday, November 11, 2018 3:00pm – 5:10pm

Amphitheater, Marvin Center
800 21st Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

japanese katana sword below a set of japanese food

The Sigur Center for Asian Studies  and GW’s Japanese Program cordially invite you to a film screening of The Tale of Samurai Cooking – A True Love Story.

This event is public and open to the media.

About the Event:

This event is part of the community outreach project of J.LIVE Talk 2018 presentation competition at the George Washington University. Doors will open at 2:50pm and close promptly at 3pm.

 

poster for film screening; text: Lesbian Factory and Rainbow Popcorn Film Screening & Discussions with Directors

11/19/18 Film Screening & Discussion: Lesbian Factory and Rainbow Popcorn

American University logo with transparent background
GW Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures logo
Sigur Center logo with transparent background
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies logo

Monday, November 19, 2018 6:00 PM – 8:40 PM

Lindner Family Commons Suite 602
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20052

flyer for Lesbian Factory and Rainbow Popcorn event

The American University School of Communications Departments of Literature, of Anthropology, and of Sociology, the George Washington University Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and the Departments of East Asian Languages and Literatures, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies cordially invite you to a film screening and discussion of Lesbian Factory and Rainbow Popcorn, with featuring panelists Jingru Wu and Teri Silvio who worked on the production of the film as well as Assistant Professors Li (Lily) Wong of American University and Assistant Professor Liana Chen of the George Washington University.

This event is free and open to the public.

About the Event:

The documentary couplet Lesbian Factory and Rainbow Popcorn shot by migrant worker activists in Taiwan, follows a group of Filipina migrant worker organizers and their tumultuous same-sex love relationships. The films bring together migrant labor activism with queer love to unpack the multi-layered texture of our globalized moment.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring the directors of the movie, Jingru Wu and Teri Silvio.

About the Speakers:

Jingru Wu is a long-time labor activist and a researcher at the Taiwan International Workers’ Association. Together with Susan Chen she has shot the two documentaries.

Teri Silvio is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. She has served as interviewer, translator, and member of the production team for the documentary films, Lesbian Factory and Rainbow Popcorn.

 

 

black and white photo of Lily Wong

Li (Lily) Wong received her PhD in Comparative Literature at University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on the politics of affect/emotion, gender/sexuality, comparative race, as well as media formations of transpacific Chinese, Sinophone, and Asian American communities. Her work can be found in journals including American Quarterly, Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Asian Cinema, Asian American Literary Review, Pacific Affairs and China Review International, among others. She has published book chapters in World Cinema and the Visual Arts (Anthem Press, 2012), Queer Sinophone Cultures (Routledge, 2013), and Divided Lenses: War and Film Memory in Asia (University of Hawai’i Press, 2016). She is the author of the book “Transpacific Attachments: Sex Work, Media Networks, and Affective Histories of Chineseness” (Columbia University Press, 2018).

 

 

 

 

headshot of Liana Chen with a flower

Liana Chen is an assistant professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and director of the Chinese Program at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she is affiliated with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and teaches courses on traditional and modern Chinese fiction and drama, film, and women writers.

 

 

poster for Mother, Daughter, Sister movie screening

10/25/18 Film Screening & Discussion: Mother, Daughter, Sister

logo of Gender Equality Initiative of International Affairs
Sigur Center logo with transparent background
logo of International Development Studies
logo of Kirana Productions

 

 

Thursday, October 25, 2018 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

 

Lindner Family Commons Suite 602
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20052

 

promotional image of movie called mother daughter sister

 

The Elliott School Gender Equality Initiative, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, International Development Studies and Kirana Productions cordially invite you to a film screening and discussion of Amae, Thamee, Ama (Mother, Daughter, Sister). Providing opening remarks will be the film’s director, Jeanne Marie Hallacy.

 

 

About the Film:

 

Mother, Daughter, Sister exposes the Burmese military’s practice of using rape as a weapon of war and gives voice to Kachin and Rohingya women activists calling for justice for these crimes. The film revolves around the stories of four women: Shamima, a volunteer counselor working with survivors of military rape in the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, Dil Kayas, a teenage survivor and San Lung and Lu Ra, the sister and mother of two Kachin school teachers brutally raped and killed in 2015, allegedly by the Burmese military. Powerful testimonies from survivors, witnesses and activists explore the far-reaching impact of sexual violence upon women and communities, woven with stories of courageous women calling for justice and a unified stand for an end to impunity.

 

About the Speakers:

 

Myo Win, Director of Smile Education and Development Foundation

 

Seng Raw, Deputy General Security of the Kachin Alliance

 

black and white photo of Jeanne Marie HallacyJeanne Marie Hallacy’s films are used for human rights education and advocacy. Hallacy develops relationships with her subjects to open their worlds through her lens; she can interview government ministers and slum dwellers and get a story. Her cross-cultural communications skills are an asset to covering issues from refugees to labor rights to people living with HIV. Based in Southeast Asia for decades, she worked with AsiaWorks Television, a regional production company to produce feature news for global broadcasters and advocacy videos for United Nations agencies and international NGOs. She is based in San Francisco and Bangkok and is available to travel worldwide.

 

 

 

 

 

headshot of Christina Fink with blue balckground

Dr. Christna Fink joined the Elliott School in 2011. She is a cultural anthropologist who has combined teaching, research, and development work throughout her career. Her areas of expertise include Burma/Myanmar in particular and Southeast Asia more broadly, equitable development, gender and development, and civil society in ethnically diverse states.

Kano film promotional picture with group of baseball players and their coach

9/24/18: GTI Taiwan Cinema Night: “Kano”

Logos of the Global Taiwan Institute, Sigur Center, and the Organization of Asian Studies

The Global Taiwan Institute, the Organization of Asian Studies, and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University are pleased to present the film “Kano” in GTI’s ongoing series of social and cultural programs in Washington, DC.

Monday, September 24, 2018

Doors Open at 5pm; Film Starts at 5:30pm
Lindner Family Commons – Room 602
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

promotional photo of movie called Kano

THE FILM 

We will be showing the film “Kano”, directed by Taiwanese director Umin Boya (馬志翔). “Kano” tells the true story of a multicultural high school baseball team from southern Taiwan as it competed for the prestigious Japanese High School Baseball Championship in 1931. This ragtag band of Taiwanese indigenous, Han Chinese, and Japanese teammates must overcome language and cultural barriers to not only survive, but to succeed. The film examines Taiwan’s long colonial past, as well as explores themes of personal and national identity through the lens of baseball, Taiwan’s national sport.

GUEST SPEAKER

Photo of Wei Te-Sheng with green backgroundWe will be joined by guest speaker director Wei Te-Sheng (魏德聖), who is also the producer of “Kano.” Born in Tainan, director Wei graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, and only started his entertainment career after he completed the mandatory military service in Taiwan. His first directed movie “Cape No. 7” not only was a hit, but successfully brought life back to the Taiwan film industry. Director Wei will join us at the event and answer questions in the Q&A session after the film.