About Screening Rights 2024: Paradiso, XXXI, 108 + Intercepted

Screening Rights Film Festival is bringing the latest socially engaged and formally innovative cinema from the Global South to audiences in the West Midlands. The centrepiece of its 10th-anniversary edition consists of two Palestinian-Ukrainian solidarity screenings designed to complement one another. The second of these sees two films demystify the logic (or lack thereof) of imperial regimes with stark clarity, without losing an ounce of humanity.

Already renowned for his work with archives, Palestinian filmmaker Kamal Aljafari takes this engagement to a new level in the subtly sarcastic short Paradiso, XXXI, 108. Through recontextualised images of military training and explosions, Aljafari exposes the occupation army’s obsession with weaponry, masculinity and the gamification of war.

Similarly to her documentary feature debut, Don’t Worry, The Doors Will Open, which was shot on elektrychkas — the local trains that Ukrainians use to commute between large cities and smaller towns — Oksana Karpovych’s highly acclaimed Intercepted consists of oral testimonies. This time around, however, these belong not to Ukrainian commuters but to Russian occupiers in Ukraine during the full-scale invasion, who are having phone conversations with their families back home. Through an effective juxtaposition of these harrowing audio recordings, intercepted by the Ukrainian military, with the devastated natural and urban landscapes of Ukraine, the film names and shames the aggressor, all the while humanising those to whom it is dedicated: ‘ordinary Ukrainians, who fearlessly resist the imperialist Russian machine.’

The screening will be followed by a live panel discussion, featuring guest curators and invited panelists.

CONTENT WARNING: Please note that both films feature images and explicit audio descriptions of war and war crimes.

Booking info

To book Accessible tickets and free Companion tickets, please visit our Accessible Bookings page. Companion tickets will initially show a standard ticket price, but once your account is set-up and you are logged in, this will be reduced to £0 at checkout.

Duration includes trailers, adverts and any Q&A/panel. For events such as NT Live, Colour Box and Reel & Meal there will be minimal advertising. We do not admit latecomers after the main feature has started and we have a limited food & drink policy.

MAC’s cinema programme has been generously supported by BFI Film Audience Network and Film Hub Midlands.

Dates and times