Brava and Art2Action present
Eleven Reflections on September
Film Screening & Dialogue
September 7, 2022
Wednesday at 7:00pm
6:30p doors and reception
*Masks are required at all times.
Eleven Reflections on September is a poetry, music, movement and digital media exploration of Arab American experience, Wars on/of Terror, and “the constant, quiet rain of death amidst beauty” that each autumn brings in a post-9/11 world. Based on a series of poems Andrea Assaf has written since 2001, “Eleven Reflections...” spans the fall of the Twin Towers, the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the global rise of anti Arab racism and Islamophobia, and the revolutions and uprisings that have swept through the Arab world in the last decade. Aesthetically, the poems explore the disintegration of language in the face of violence, prejudice, and unspeakable horror, as they progress from lyrical to abstract and broken. The annual witnessing of autumn leaves becomes a metaphor for the fallen... As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, this ever-evolving tour de force finds new relevance and urgency.
Originally a live theatre production created for the stage, “Eleven Reflections on September” was re-created as a digital film in 2021, during the pandemic. It can be presented as a film, or as an immersive installation of projections in which live performance happens, or as a live theatrical production with an immersive projection design, or as an interactive web platform. As an experimental work that lives at the intersection of live performance and digital media, “Eleven Reflections on September” is beautiful, haunting, and truly genre-shattering.
TICKETS
Free
Space is limited so make sure to reserve your spot!
WATCH THE TRAILER
ABOUT ANDREA ASSAF
Andrea Assaf is a poet/playwright, director, performer, and cultural organizer. She is the founding Artistic and Executive Director of Art2Action Inc., and Co-Director of the National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation (with Pangea World Theater). Her seminal work, Eleven Reflections on September, has been featured at The Carver Community Cultural Center, the National Asian American Theatre Festival at OSF (produced by CAATA), La MaMa, The Apollo Theatre, The Kennedy Center, and internationally. Awards include: 2021 Silk Road Film Awards Cannes (Director, Best Experimental Feature), 2020 Pushcart Prize Nomination, 2019 NEFA National Theatre Project, 2019 & 2011 NPN Creation Fund Commission, 2017 Finalist for the Freedom Plow Award for Poetry & Activism, 2010 Princess Grace Award/Gant Gaither Theater Award for Directing, and more. Andrea has a Master’s degree in Performance Studies and a BFA in Acting, both from NYU. She currently serves on the Board of the Consortium of Asian American Theatres & Artists (CAATA), Alternate ROOTS, and is a founding Steering Committee member of the Middle Eastern/North African Theatre-Makers Alliance (MENATMA).
UP NEXT SEPTEMBER 2022
Art2Action launches a new partnership with BRAVA For Women in the Arts to develop the second community co-created performance in their national series, Eleven Reflections on the Nation. This iteration, 11Reflections: San Francisco, invites artists of color, community members, and creative allies in the Bay Area to participate in Story Circles, workshops, creative writing, and theatre-making over the next year, in response to the question: What has the impact of the post-9/11 era been in your city? While centering Southwest/Central Asian and North African (SWANA), Middle Eastern/North African/South Asian (MENASA), and Muslim American stories, the project will explore the interconnected impacts for multiple, intersecting communities in the Bay Area, by lifting up YOUR stories. We’re excited to exchange and collaborate with Bay Area organizations and community groups such as Golden Thread Productions, the Shahrazad Squad, the Aswat Ensemble, and more!