Narmeen Ijaz and Khurram Sheikh, co-directors of the upcoming In Light Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, give a preview of their events and explain how the festival hopes to “bridge divides, promote dialogue, and inspire collective action towards positive change.”
In Light Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (ILFF) is a biennial student-run and faculty-advised film festival, organized and supported by Indiana University’s Center for Documentary Research and Practice (CDRP). The festival is known for its dedication to promoting and recognizing exceptional contemporary documentaries that engage a broad and diverse range of human rights concerns across the globe.
The sixth edition of ILFF is co-directed and curated by The Media School (IU) doctoral candidates Narmeen Ijaz and Khurram Sheikh to bring eight thought-provoking documentaries on the theme of “Navigating Social and Political Trauma toward Healing.” This year’s festival addresses the various modalities of trauma and healing across a variety of geographical and political contexts. Featuring compelling stories from the frontlines in Ukraine, the drought-besieged Turkana-Ngaremara community of northern Kenya, and the United States from the perspective of Muslim Americans, among others, In Light 2024 calls attention to deeply personal and often undermined modalities of mental health and well-being.
In today’s global landscape, we are witnessing unprecedented levels of conflict, displacement, and injustice, resulting in widespread trauma and suffering among communities worldwide. From ongoing armed conflicts to systemic oppression and human rights violations, the impacts of social and political turmoil are deeply felt across borders and generations. By focusing on this theme, In Light 2024 brings films that seek to confront the multifaceted challenges faced by individuals and societies in navigating these disturbing times. Through the power of documentary storytelling, we aim to highlight narratives of resilience, courage, and healing.
The first day of the festival focuses on how historical injustices and global political histories shape localized forms of resistance and peace-building. Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudović Reels (2022), directed by Mila Turajlić, delves into the forgotten history of Yugoslav cameraman Stevan Labudović’s anticolonial struggle in Algeria to counter French propaganda in the 1960s. Vitaly Mansky and Yevhen Titarenko’s Eastern Front (2023) depicts the war in Ukraine through the eyes of the volunteers in a first-aid squad who experience despair, fear, hatred, love, and, most importantly, faith in victory. Alien Island (2023) by Cristóbal Valenzuela Berríos is a sci-fi documentary that examines an alleged extraterrestrial presence on an island near Chile during the Pinochet era.
The second day of the festival program showcases the diverse stories of individuals and communities as they grapple with the complexities of heritage, belonging, and self-discovery. No Simple Way Home (2023) by Akuol de Mabior explores the notion of motherlands as a mother and her two daughters return home in South Sudan after years of exile. Between the Rains (2023), directed by Andrew H. Brown and Moses Thuranira, investigates environmental injustice and environmental racism through the lens of Turkana people in Kenya who are one of the world’s oldest communities.
The last day of the festival includes special events and three film screenings which bring together personal narratives through storytelling as a form of healing, empowerment, and catharsis through the lens of feminist documentary praxis. An Act of Worship (2022), directed by Nausheen Dadabhoy, is a counter-narrative of pivotal moments in U.S. history exploring the impact of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policy on young Muslims during the last 30 years post-9/11. Beba (2021), directed by Rebeca Huntt, is a self-portrait of an Afro-Latina who stares down historical, societal, and generational trauma with unflinching courage. The self-reflexive documentary The Taste of Mango (2023), directed by Chloe Abrahams, probes raw questions Abrahams’s mother and grandmother have long brushed aside, tenderly untangling painful knots in her family’s unspoken past.
Beyond the screenings, our second goal for In Light 2024 is to engage more with the wider Bloomington community by opening up avenues to address the various modalities of social and political trauma as well as address the lack of recognition of mental health of underrepresented and minority communities. In order to achieve this goal, In Light 2024 features a workshop on “Community Building and Mental Health” by our community partner Centerstone Bloomington, a nonprofit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder treatments for people of all ages. The workshop will focus on the prevalence of mental illness as a derivative of discrimination faced by diverse populations in the U.S. Our second important community workshop focuses on “Community Wellness and Healing” by Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera, founder of Muslim Wellness Foundation (MWF). The workshop aims at creating a safe space for minority communities to process traumatic experiences by fostering collective healing under expert facilitation.
The 2024 edition of In Light also aims at generating important conversations and scholarly discussions by bringing together filmmakers and scholars at the same platform. The festival includes a panel on “Feminist Praxis in Media,” which includes scholars from anthropology, media studies, and documentary studies and filmmakers to shed light on the transformative potential of feminist filmmaking giving voices to marginalized communities. In Light will also feature a live documentary performance by Mila Turajlić called “Non-Aligned Newsreels: Fragment #4,” which is a first-of-its-kind event in Bloomington. Finally, In Light 2024 will host four renowned guests including filmmakers Mila Turajlić, Diego Breit, and Akuol de Mabior, as well as a documentary participant, Khadega Mohammed, to engage in post-screening Q&As between filmmakers and the audiences.
Amidst growing divisions and polarization, fostering empathy and understanding is more critical than ever. By engaging audiences in conversations about trauma, healing, and resilience, In Light 2024 aims to bridge divides, promote dialogue, and inspire collective action towards positive change. Ultimately, in a world beset by uncertainty and turmoil, the theme of “Navigating Social and Political Trauma toward Healing” serves as a beacon of hope and solidarity, reminding us of our shared humanity and commitment to a future defined by compassion, justice, and solidarity.
In Light 2024 is co-directed by Narmeen Ijaz and Khurram Sheikh of The Media School, with support from IU Cinema, Center for Documentary Research and Practice, Redbud Books, Centerstone, Muslim Voices Project, and IU Public Arts and Humanities Grant. Special shoutout to our team members (Daisy Stricler, Hinako Barnes, Phee Hunter, and Razan Omar) who have worked really hard to help us put together the In Light 2024 festival program.
This year’s In Light Film Festival events at IU Cinema will include Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudović Reels on March 28 at 7pm with filmmaker Mila Turajlić present for a Q&A; Between the Rains on March 29 at 7pm with filmmaker Andrew H. Brown present for a virtual Q&A; Beba on March 30 at 4pm with a Q&A afterwards; and The Taste of Mango on March 30 at 7pm, also with a post-film Q&A.
For more information, please visit the series page on IU Cinema’s website, the Center for Documentary Research and Practice’s website, the festival’s Facebook page, or the festival’s Instagram page.
Khurram Sheikh is a PhD candidate at the Media School interested in the field of film festival studies. He is interested in studying postcolonial artists and filmmakers through an institutional focus on film festivals and transnational networks of coproduction for emerging Muslim film practices. Khurram is also a filmmaker and has screened his films at international film festivals. He has also served as a jury member for various film festivals.
Narmeen Ijaz is a PhD candidate at the Media School (IU) where her research focuses on how patriarchal and heteronormative power dynamics in colonial histories and political power regimes have led to the emergence of new female subjectivities through film cultures in Pakistan. Ijaz has worked as a documentary filmmaker for international human rights organizations. Her documentary, Ripples in Still Water, was the official selection at Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival (SVFMF).