In 1991, shortly after the end of the Gulf War, filmmaker Simone Bitton recorded an encounter between Palestinian historian Elias Sanbar and French film critic Serge Daney. Sanbar is a collector of images – an exile who archives the memory of his people: press photographs, family albums, postcards, and so on. To him, the image serves as proof of his identity. By contrast, although he spent most of his life watching films, Daney always refused to keep still images.

In 2009, the Algerian football team won a match against Egypt, securing their place in the 2010 World Cup. Algerian artist Amina Menia remembers how the celebrations seemed surreal, given that both countries were experiencing political tensions, and how they reminded her of the festivities that followed the independence of Algeria in 1962.

In both films, complex geopolitical conflicts transit through history by way of personal recollections and archival images, which seem to shore each other up against the recurrence of political oppressions, the weight of history, and the erasure of collective narratives. They become and remain relevant, especially against the backdrop of the recent harassment of the Iranian football team by the US government, host of the 2026 World Cup, and the sustained violence against the Palestinian people

Programme:

Amina Menia, National Liberation Football (2022)
Algeria, France
19’50”
French spoken, with English subtitles*

Simone Bitton, Conversation Nord-Sud : Daney/Sanbar (1991)
France
48’
French spoken, with English subtitles

*National Liberation Football is conceived and produced as a three-channel video installation, exceptionally shown at argos as a single screen screening. With generous permission of the artist.

20/20 Vision is our monthly micro-cinema night: a shifting line-up of moving images and video works, from shorts to features, from the archive and beyond. Throughout fall and winter, 20/20 Vision seeks various connections between the argos film collection and the ongoing exhibition What the Land Remembers — Counter-Archives from Iran, each screening approaching the underlying themes from a different angle. With only 20 chairs for 20 spectators, the screenings are cosy and informal, designed to spark conversations or perhaps even disagreements. We open the bar, ladle out hot soup, and invite you to sink into a collective viewing experience. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes provocative, always a little unexpected.

Each screening will be accompanied by a critical companion piece published on the website of our partner Yanco. You’ll find the text by following this link (coming soon). A print-out will be made available during the screening as well.