MEG X Palestine, Filmer c'est exister - Rencontres cinématographiques : A Magical Substance flows into me

As part of the temporary exhibition ‘Afrosonica - Soundscapes’, a series of films for adults, children and teenagers will be screened between May and December, offering a different perspective on the themes explored in the exhibition.

In collaboration with the Palestine: Filmer c'est exister film festival, which will take place from 26 to 30 November 2025, ‘A Magical Substance Flows Into Me’ by Jumana Manna will be screened at the MEG on Sunday 30 November.

A Magical Substance Flows Into Me by Jumana Manna, 68 min, 2016, Palestine, Germany, Great Britain.
Inspired by the work of German-Jewish ethnomusicologist Robert Lachmann, exiled in Palestine in the 1930s, director Jumana Manna revisits a little-known sound archive and reactivates it in the present. She meets musicians from various communities living in historic Palestine today: Kurdish families, Bedouins, Moroccan and Yemeni Jews, Samaritans, Palestinians and Coptic Christians.
In the intimacy of living rooms or kitchens, instruments resonate, songs rise up, and stories weave a collective memory made up of fragile transmissions, resistance and reinventions. A vibrant reflection on cultural diversity and the challenges of preserving it.

Film in original version with French subtitles.

Screenings are free and without registration, subject to availability of seats in the auditorium.

Speakers:

Madeleine Leclair: Curator in charge of the ethnomusicology collections at the MEG & co-curator of the exhibition ‘Afrosonica - Soundscapes’.
Jumana Manna: film director.

In collaboration with and as part of the Palestine Film Festival, Filmer c'est exister (To film is to exist).