Filmscreening Sarkha

The video dance Sarkha by artist Jumana Dabis takes us on an abstract journey through the lives of Palestinian female artists, women and girls in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Cairo. Amid complex realities, separation and uncertainty, they try to cope with their everyday lives and support and comfort each other in these extremely difficult times. Since physical gatherings are hardly possible, art has become a connecting medium for them, a way to create closeness despite physical distance. Sarkha (‘scream’) is a collective call for visibility: an attempt to ‘go to Gaza’ together – even if only symbolically – and dance together one last time. The film presents an artistic perspective that, despite the omnipresent horrors, offers a glimpse of the beauty and hope of Palestine. 

The film screening will be followed by a Q&A with Jumana Dabis and Melanie Zimmermann, artistic director of the Real Dance Festival. 

Jumana Dabis is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher. She participated in various dance programs such as Ponderosa (Stolzenhagen), Takween (Beirut), and Dance Web (Vienna) before completing her Master’s degree in Contemporary Dance at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Her choreographic career began in 2003 and includes numerous works presented in the United States, Germany, Ireland, Lebanon, Palestine, and Norway. In 2021, she founded the SHAMS Dance Company, which under her artistic direction combines creative expression with social discourse to generate artistic and societal impulses.