Ahla friends,
Another week, another scroll through a world that feels increasingly heavy. But last weekend gave us something we needed: Bringing The Shãm (شام) to BAM
Omar Offendum brought together a constellation of SWANA artists for a full takeover of BAM, different floors, different performances, different artists. All SWANA. All talented. The event sold out all 700 spots, and our inbox was flooded with people desperately searching for last-minute tickets.
This is what our community looks like when it has space. Joyful, full, alive. A rare and necessary exhale from the weight of everything happening right now, and proof, by the way, to every non-SWANA venue still on the fence: giving space to our community isn't just good for your diversity programming. It sells out.
Arab-American Heritage Month continues to delight and we are adding events daily to our website.
THE SHORTLIST
Handpicked events worth showing up for
ART
Dear Laila By Basel Zaraa
April 11th to May 3rd
Multi-location in Bay Ridge & Midtown
A 15-minute immersive installation where you sit alone, face-to-face with a miniature of Zaraa's childhood home in the Yarmouk refugee camp, listening through headphones as he speaks directly to his daughter, sharing memories of a place she'll never be able to visit (audio available in both English & Arabic). Displacement, joy, family, and loss, held in the palm of your hands. Both intimate and powerful. The experience will extend to an art exhibit with work from the Gaza Biennale.
Note: the first 2 weeks of the show are in Bay Ridge, BK's Little Palestine. Maps to explore the neighborhood will be available so you can keep going with this immersive experience.
CINEMA
Capernaum
Friday April 10th, 2-4pm
Columbus Library, Hell’s Kitchen
One of the most powerful films to ever come out of Lebanon, Capernaum tells the story of Zain, a streetwise 12-year-old who sues his parents for giving him a life they couldn't sustain. Directed by Nadine Labaki, it is raw, human, beautiful, and necessary.
Fair warning: I watched it three times. Three hours of crying each time and I would still re-watch it. You will need a stuffy.
MUSIC
RnB After Dark ft Ayah Abdul
Sat April 11th, 5:30-11pm
Love Joys, Bushwick
RnB might be a rare breed these days and finding a SWANA artist doing it this well? Even rarer. Meet Ayah Abdul, Lebanese-Puerto Rican, all diva, all talent. So much presence. Check her out.
MUSIC
Marwan Allan Chaabi Project & Scree
Sun April 12th at 7:30pm
Sisters, Prospect Heights
Marwan Allam is a bass player and a composer, he brings his Brooklyn Chaabi project to Sisters, reworking the raw, rhythmic pulse of Tunisian street music into New York jazz. He will be playing alongside Scree (or Ryan El Solh, Palestinian Lebanese guitarist and Luke Bergman who plays this strange instrument called pedal steel.
COMEDY
Yall Comedy Fest
April 8-10th, various shows
Asylum NYC, Kip’s Bay
Laughter as resistance, that's the energy at YALL Comedy Fest, the first and only comedy festival dedicated to social justice storytelling. Three days of stand-up, sketches, table reads, and more, featuring a lineup that includes SWANA favorites Reem Edan, Moujan Zolfaghari, Shareef Taher, Yasmin Elhady, Fouad Dakwar, Batoul Mourad, and many more.
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THE FREE ONE
One free event that got us excited
ART
Palm Reader Opening Ceremony
Sat April 11th, 6-9pm
East Village
Faraz is an Iranian-descent animator who makes the most delightful thing on the internet: tiny dough figures, shaped by hand, telling stories in his palm, set to exactly the right song. He's currently in residency, and we featured him last year so you already know the vibe. See instagram video here. Little stories that just warm the heart.
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COMMUNITY DISPATCH
People, projects, and news from across the community
The Crew Is In Town
There's a growing movement in nightlife right now, Arabic music is having its moment, and it's not just nostalgia. It's nostalgia remixed. It's a dancefloor singing Saint Levant and Amr Diab at once, live performances, Arabic house, and habibiz all over.
Yallah Habibi Crew is part of that wave. What started as one person's show in Montreal quickly became a trio when two best friends jumped in, two Tunisians, one Lebanese, and a group chat that clearly got out of hand.
They call themselves Yallah Habibi Crew, not Events, not Productions. Just crew. And that's exactly what it feels like. Three best friends who throw parties, everyone has a great time, and somehow it turned into Montreal, Toronto, New York, Miami, Paris, Madrid and beyond. They're as creative with their promotion as they are with their nights, kidnapping Zeina to spotlight a show together, singing Kalamantina with 20 people in a grocery store. New blood, fresh energy, and zero shortage of ideas.
The night starts with the songs we all grew up on, builds into Arabic house and unreleased tracks, and somewhere along the way there's a violinist, a dabke circle, a tabla player and great energy. If you’re craving some SWANA vibes and are in need to shake off your troubles, April 17th at Eden could be a good place.
….oh we also have a promo-code for you: 10% with “MENNA10”
COMMUNITY DISPATCH
People, projects, and news from across the community
Hulu acquires the US streaming rights of The Voice of Hind Rajab and I feel both grateful and pissed
The Voice of Hind Rajab received a 23-minute standing ovation at Venice, the longest in the festival’s history. It was Oscar-nominated. And now it’s on Hulu, which means there’s no reason to miss it. Director Kaouther Ben Hania made this film so Hind’s voice wouldn’t disappear into the scroll. It shouldn’t. And now, it won’t. This is a real moment, for the team, for Watermelon Pictures, and for anyone who hasn’t had access to the film until now. You can watch it from your couch. Do it.
This was meant to be the end of the post. But while looking for images to illustrate the news, I noticed something unexpected: faces I didn’t anticipate. See below
The first visual I saw was the one on the left, famous people backing the movie. I get it, Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix are click machines. That's the system. And yes, I'm genuinely grateful for their support.
But then, seeing more pictures of random celebrities illustrating the news made me very confused. And a very Arabic reaction followed. You know the one. Just rage, no words, get mad by yourself in a corner.
Are we at a point where any face carries more weight than an Arab face? This is an Arab story. Made by an Arab crew. Brought forward by an Arab organization. And this news broke during Arab American Heritage Month. And still, we need other faces, actually random faces to make people stop and look.
Maybe I'm being dramatic, I don't know. Perhaps I just need to be grateful. What this film has achieved is massive. Truly. One win at a time. And maybe, eventually, we'll get to a place where these olive skin faces are enough on their own. I wonder what you guys think.
Now, time for some orange blossom water to calm down. 🌸
Samar
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— Menna curates cultural content and events for informational purposes only. Event details are subject to change—
