Our film The Desire will have a physical screening at the Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2020 in Australia. Click here for info:
https://www.revelationfilmfest.org/film-information-new.php?filmId=1112

Many years ago I made a short video with my daughter Muneera. I describe it this way: One take with no editing or music. A natural cinematic experience is created and seen: a moment alone with dandelions, a struggle for the camera, a shift from father to daughter in point of view and philosophy.

Curators Jamie Jenkinson and Amy Dickson are featuring Dandelion Movie with other works as part of their program present(s) on xviix.com

How can the present be valued/prioritised/lived in creative practice? present(s) is a selection of videos that appear to favour this temporality, featuring: Zara Joan Miller, … Read the rest

We are proud to announce that our film The Desire is an official selection at the 27th Chicago Underground Film Festival. Single tickets start at $10 and the full program can be found here: https://watch.eventive.org/cuff. Ticket prices go up after Halloween so snag one sooner rather than later.

Watch here: The Desire (by Talia Watrous and Usama Alshaibi) plays November 22nd for Shorts Program 14

This film program is part of the annual Arab Festival in Washington, supported and led by the Rachel Corrie Foundation. 

Filmmakers Respond to COVID-19

Presented in Association with
Anthology Film Archives
Northwest Film Forum
Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge

Filmmakers In Order of Appearance:
Courtney Stephens
Kalpana Subramanian
Usama Alshaibi
Scott Cummings
Lori Felker
Matt McCormick
Eman Akram Nader & Alex Megaro
Christin Turner
Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa
Kelly Gallagher
Sarah Ema Friedland
William Brown & Mila Zuo
Amir George
Adam Sekuler

Filmmakers Usama Alshaibi and Adam Sekuler announce CINEMA-19, a collection of 190 second short films commissioned in response to COVID-19.

The films in CINEMA-19 do not attempt to summarize the pandemic, but instead focus on the personal, the political, the sensual, the distant, the abstract, and the absurd.

With new works by Sarah Ema Friedland, Matt McCormick, Kalpana Subramanian, Christin Turner, Mila Zuo, William Brown, Kelly Gallagher, Lori Felker, Courtney Stephens, Scott Cummings, Amir George, Eman Akram Nader, Alex Megaro, Mehrnaz Saeedvafa, as well as the two commissioning artists; Usama Alshaibi and Adam Sekuler.

The films are presented in association … Read the rest

‘Usama’s Alshaibi’s experimental short film Baba Boom Boom (2016) takes us to the heart of the city, where we listen to folkloric music from Iraq performed by Alshaibi’s characterful father and meditate on the rich oral traditions within Iraqi culture’

Coming soon! Go to https://iiffestival.com/

Today is my Q and A for the Best of Chicago Underground Film Festival for my documentary American Arab. Join me at 7pm Chicago time. Click here.