BrickFlix Presents
An Evening with Means TV
Monday, September 9, 2024
at The Brick Theater – 579 Metropolitan
Doors + Food at 7PM | Screening at 7:30PM

Join us for an evening of short films offered on the platform MeansTV: the world’s first worker-owned, anti-capitalist streaming service! Preceded by a performance by BrickFlix Artist Rawya El-Chab: “Balalalaclava” is a 6-8 minute multimedia performance piece that mixes clownish humor with imagery from news events.

Rawya El Chab is a New York City-based theater maker whose work blends classical training with experimental and contemporary art forms. Shaped by the aftermath of the Lebanese civil war, she uses storytelling to address historical voids and give voice to untold narratives. El Chab’s diverse portfolio includes “The Meltdown” at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, “The Gambler” at the Loading Dock, and the digital collage “Epikoinonia.” Her recent production, “Lula & the Pearl of the Bekaa,” opened at La Mama Theater in 2024. Currently, she’s developing “The Union,” an interactive piece exploring democratic processes, and “Crossing the Water,” part of a triptych examining the leftist struggle in Lebanon.

Film Lineup:
A Play Before The Bombs (dir. Roger Glenn Hill)
Good White People (dir. Jarrod Cann & Erick Stoll)
Daddy Business (dir. Christopher Stoudt)
A View From the Window (dir. Chris Filippone and Azar Kafaei)
RPG Maker – The Dream of the Engine (dir. Derek Murphy & Mitchell Zemil)
Tawfiq’s Reef (dir. Roger Glenn Hill and Anas Hamra)

Film Synopses courtesy of Means TV

A Play Before The Bombs (dir. Roger Glenn Hill)
Set in the al-Mishal Cultural Center in Gaza before it was destroyed by an Israeli air strike on August 9, 2018, A Play Before The Bombs is a story that unfolds over a 4 year period. The film follows Abeer Ahmed, a young woman growing up in the Jabaliya Refugee Camp, the largest refugee camp in Gaza, as she and the other members of her cast and crew prepare to put on a play that focuses on a Palestinian woman’s right to receive inheritance. While the content of the play is tailored towards fostering a cultural discussion among Palestinians, neither the play nor the playhouse can escape the omnipresence of the Israeli siege on Gaza. A siege that shatters literal buildings as well as the hopes and dreams of the performers and community members who take refuge within the walls of al-Mishal in search of artistic fulfillment.

Good White People (dir. Jarrod Cann & Erick Stoll)
In the Spring of 2001, the African-American community of Over-the-Rhine in downtown Cincinnati arose in protest after unarmed 19-year-old, Timothy Thomas, was killed by a white officer named Steven Roach. In the years following, in order to allure prospective residents, Over-the-Rhine was swept into a new narrative of safety and whiteness by the creation of an arts and brewery district for the creative class. While it’s “dangerous and inconvenient” Black history is revitalized from existence, property values rise with presence of police, tax abatements, and zoning amendments to serve and protect those properties. Filmed during the peak of Over-the-Rhine’s urban renewal, Good White People is a short film that follows the story of Reginald Stroud who runs a karate school and candy store in the storefronts beneath the apartment he and his family have called home for over 10 years. When a developer purchases the building they rent, Reginald and his family are told they must vacate the building and are given only 45 days to find a new home and relocate their businesses while their neighborhood makes way for start-up incubators, yoga studios, and luxury condominiums. Formerly a target of the policies created by the War On Drugs, Cincinnati’s inner-city is now the target of urban development corporations as its black population declines. Good White People hopes to start a conversation about the use of coded terminology like urban renewal, revitalization, and urban renaissance, and explore how these words help to trivialize and disguise the commercial practice of white supremacy, neocolonialism, and the economic othering of low-income residents.

Daddy Business (dir. Christopher Stoudt)
Single dad Christopher “Tattoo” Fontes is enmeshed in drugs and petty crime when his son Damian is born. Now, he must confront a lifetime of trauma to become the father he never had––and the father Damian deserves.

A View From the Window (dir. Chris Filippone and Azar Kafaei)
A View from the Window follows a day in the life of third grade students at the California School for the Deaf. Taking you through a journey that includes playing in the school yard, learning about race and identity and how crayfish survive in the wild. “Despite the fact that neither Filippone nor Kafaei understands American Sign Language, they trained their camera on the children, keenly attuned to the experience of the kids’ school day. The result is an immersive and deeply moving glimpse into the lives of deaf children.” – The Atlantic

RPG Maker – The Dream of the Engine (dir. Derek Murphy & Mitchell Zemil)
The illegally cracked and fan-translated version of RPG Maker was one of the most popular hobbyist game engines of the early 2000’s.
The creator of the cult classic Space Funeral shows us how RPG Maker’s collage-like nature shaped, and was shaped by, the dreams and desires of its community. RPG Maker – The Dream of the Engine is part of the Means TV Original Series Preserving Worlds. Preserving Worlds is a documentary travelogue through aging and beloved virtual worlds. Join the filmmakers as they explore dated chat environments, appreciate player-created art, and meet people working against obsolescence to keep the communities they care about alive and accessible.

Tawfiq’s Reef (dir. Roger Glenn Hill and Anas Hamra)
Tawfiq’s Reef is centered on the legacy of Tawfiq Abu Riyala, a Gaza fisherman shot dead by the Israeli Navy three miles from Gaza’s shoreline – well within the six-mile limit Israel allows, while attempting to build a man-made reef to catch fish and provide for his family. This is a story of the plight of Palestinian fisherman in Gaza, heavily restricted in the area in which they can fish, often indebted, shot at, harassed or imprisoned by the Israeli Navy on the narrow sliver of fishing waters available to them off the Gaza coastline. Tawfiq’s story is one of desperation, family ties, and the camaraderie between Gaza fishermen…One of the most dangerous professions in the world. This is a film about a people under siege and the ingenious, and often dangerous, solutions they attempt to scratch out a living for themselves.

Shorts Combined Runtime: 90 minutes
Content Warning: War, Genocide, Violence

BrickFlix, a periodic screening & performance series was created by Filmmaker/Two Boots owner Phil Hartman in January 2020. It brings together independent filmmakers, live performance, and food to create a vibrant art loving community. It is currently programmed by Toney Brown (Mules, @toneymovies). Follow us @brickflixmovies.

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A Note on Accessibility: The Brick has trigger warnings posted in the space for each show for you to check if you so choose. If you would rather ask questions in advance of being in the space or would like to enter in advance of house opening due to our seating not being assigned, please reach out to theresa@bricktheater.com.

Mask Policy: The Brick strongly encourages but does not require masks for audience members. We are in ongoing conversation with our artists and audiences as we continue to adapt our covid policies and it is subject to change at any time. Thank you.