In 1962, Oscar Niemeyer was invited to conceive an international fairground in the city of Tripoli, Lebanon, which was never completed. The documentary كیف لا نغرق في السراب / To Remain in the No Longer (CCA, 2023, 38min) directed by Joyce Joumaa, CCA’s 2021–2022 Emerging Curator, reflects on the country’s current socio-economic crisis by examining the precarity of the project site that remains to this day. Employing archival materials, interviews, and 16mm and digital film, the film explores the political and cultural forces that have come to bear on the site—from its halted construction to its imposed abandonment and attempted reappropriations. 

The Canadian premiere of كیف لا نغرق في السراب / To Remain in the No Longer is presented by Joyce Joumaa as part of a city in pursuit during the Images Festival, alongside This is a Crisis (Canada, 2023, 4 min) by Tamara Jones. Asking how a city might fail, and who determines which factors contribute to its success and livability, this program looks at how the city, its infrastructure, and architecture are inextricably tied to those who inhabit it. A conversation between Jones, Joumaa, and William Albu, photo director of كیف لا نغرق في السراب / To Remain in the No Longer concludes the evening.

Friday 12 April 2024, 7pm
Innis Town Hall
2 Sussex Ave
Toronto

You can get your tickets here.