Projects at the Lab: The Cinematheque | All That We Witness launched this December and continues into January with a series of encounters that look closely at contemporary directions in Arab documentary practice. The program turns to works that approach wider realities through the immediacy of lived experience; following how personal perspectives surface within, complicate, or cast new light on collective events. In doing so, it reopens the question of what the documentary form can offer today: how it examines the past, and how it engages the pressures and urgencies of the present moment. The program brings together conversations, public discussions, and a workshop, alongside a film-screening series.

Asma Bseiso is an award-winning filmmaker, media consultant and trainer who lives and works between Amman and Gaza. In 2008, Asma was selected to join the Documentary Filmmaking Fellowship Program at George Washington University. She also participated in an advanced filmmaking training program by the University of Southern California in collaboration with the Royal Film Commission of Jordan. In 2009, Asma directed a film titled “I Am Gaza,” which was shot during the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in 2008. In 2013, she obtained a Higher Diploma in Film and Television Directing from the Film Institute of Madrid. In 2016, Asma released her film “Still Alive,” which was screened in many festivals and won several awards. She has worked with many TV stations, including Al Jazeera, Al Arabi, MBC, France 24, ARTE, and PBS. She also worked on several projects by a number of international organizations, including the United Nations, the German Agency for International Cooperation, and others. Asma recently completed a documentary titled The Seven Waves (2024).