Events

Event details

Insurgent Transmissions presents quarterly screenings the first Wednesday of each month. This series has been moved to FilmNorth’s newly renovated offices and theater, located 2441 University Ave W, St Paul.

Join us on Wednesday May 20 for a screening of Yara (2018), programmed by former Twin Cities Arab Film Fest curator, Kitty Aal.

WHERE: FilmNorth, 2441 University Ave W, Suite 100 Saint Paul, MN 55114
WHEN: 5/20, 6:30pm doors / 7pm screening
TICKETS

Insurgent Transmissions is a quarterly film series showcasing films from the past nineteen editions of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. In 2026, Mizna celebrates the twentieth edition of our flagship program, and we mark this milestone by drawing on cinematic transmissions from our past festivals. We align this series with our broader 2026 film programming––Looking Forward, Looking Back––which confronts the visual record of SWANA cinema, including our own festival, demanding radical new meanings from the archive rather than a simple, sentimental look. This program spans the entire year and multiple venues. 

Throughout 2026, Insurgent Transmissions will present films programmed by former Mizna festival curators, individually chosen because of their significance in Mizna’s curatorial history and impact on the landscape of SWANA filmmaking.

ABOUT THE FILM
Young Yara lives with her grandmother in a valley in northern Lebanon, where most of the inhabitants have either died or moved abroad. One day Elias, a young hiker, passes by the two women’s farm. With him, Yara will experience the joys and pains of first love.

ABOUT THE CURATOR
Kitty Aal is a photographer and film programmer from Minneapolis who has worked with cinemas and festivals in the Twin Cities, Madison, Nova Scotia, Istanbul and most recently for the Montana International Film Festival (MINT).