Brotherhood (25:00 min)
Written and Directed by Meryam Joobeur
Produced by Habib Attia, Sara Ben Hassen, Maria Garcia Turgeon, Meryam Joobeur
An unintended consequence of the Arab Spring uprisings (2010-2013) was the flight of young men and women from their homelands to join the Islamic State at war in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The largest drain of young people under thirty (mostly young men) was from the small north African country of Tunisia. Motivated in part by economic insecurity, unemployment and the search for identity, scores of young Tunisians were easily lured and recruited on social media and other recruitment sites promising pay and a strong identity with a purpose.
In Brotherhood (2018), Tunisian-American filmmaker Meryam Joobeur delivers an emotionally charged tale about a Tunisian shepherd’s family and the complexities of a father’s relationship with his estranged and radicalized son upon his sudden return from Syria. This highly sensitive and beautifully nuanced film dispels the stereotypical notions of what it means to be Muslim as it deepens our understanding of the Arab world. Written and directed by Meryam Joobeur, Brotherhood garnered seventy awards from film festivals throughout the world, including best short film at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was both nominated and short-listed for an Academy Award in 2019 in the short film (live action) category. A feature-length version of the film is currently in development.
Anne Kovach
Anne is a visual artist based in New York. She is Curator for the Virginia Dwan Collection and Dwan Gallery Archives, both of which highlight seminal works from the Conceptual, Minimal, and Land Art movements of the 60s and 70s. Since 2015, Anne has been an Editor for the Art Feature for Consequence’s print edition. She currently lives in the Hunter’s Point section of Queens, NY with her rescued dog, Pearl.
