Event overview
A screening of two films, Samidat and Through the Lens of Dignity to garner a conversation on the agentive actions of female refugees in displacement from their home countries
The Migrant Futures Institute is delighted to welcome the Goldsmiths community and the public to engage with two short documentaries and a conversation that centre agency, care and collective action.
Samidat (dir. Ibrahim Fakhri) offers a view into the lives of female Sudanese football players in Egypt and how playing football becomes a form of home-making. Through the Lens of Dignity (dir. by Natalie Garland) follows Syrian female English teachers in refugee camps in Lebanon. The documentary offers a window into how language teaching and learning becomes a form of creating other horizons in states of war and waiting. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the directors and MFI members.
Speakers
Ibrahim Fakhri (Director, Samidat)
Ibrahim Fakhri is a filmmaker and visual creative whose short documentary Samidat: In the Face of War follows Sudanese women footballers rebuilding their team in exile in Egypt, reframing sport as resistance and community‑making. He is Creative Manager at The New Arab, bringing a multidisciplinary background in visual storytelling and motion design.
Natalie Garland (Director, Through the Lens of Dignity)
Natalie Garland is a researcher‑filmmaker at UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity who co‑created Through the Lens of Dignity, a participatory documentary with Syrian collaborators in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Her doctoral research, The Everyday Burden of Dignity, develops a “dignity lens” through immersive, community‑based fieldwork on refugee life and agency.
Dr Sophie Chamas (Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies, SOAS)
Sophie Chamas is Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies at SOAS. Their work explores imagination, affect and cultural production in Middle East social movements from a queer feminist perspective, examining how speculative futures and everyday practices shape socio‑political change.
Dr Kit Hung (Postdoctoral Fellow, MFI)
Kit Hung is a Hong Kong filmmaker and a PhD graduate from Goldsmiths’ Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies. He founded the Secure Storyteller Network (SSN), supporting vulnerable, cross‑border filmmakers with safer workflows, digital security and wellbeing‑aware practice.
Dr Sultan Doughan (Co‑Director, MFI) - Moderator
Co‑Director of the Migrant Futures Institute and Lecturer in Anthropology at Goldsmiths, Sultan Doughan is a political anthropologist whose research examines citizenship, memory, and religious difference in Europe, including how commemoration and debates on race and migration shape belonging for Middle Eastern diasporas.
Entrance is free but please register in advance
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Mar 2026 | 6:00pm - 8:00pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
