Keep a Safe Distance
Keep a Safe Distance, floor sign at Spinneys. © Hind Mezaina
It has been quiet here on the blog. At first it was because I travelled twice between January and March (Rotterdam between January 21-February 3, and Berlin between February 18-March 3) and I struggled to find time to write here.
Both trips were to attend film festivals, IFFR and Berlinale - so a combination of being in a film festival bubble and travel fatigue was soon followed by coronavirus anxiety.
The lockdown in Dubai and across the UAE was gradual, with cinemas, cultural spaces and museums closing first on March 15 and the following 10 days saw more and more spaces closing their doors for safety reasons (except for supermarkets, pharmacies and restaurants — for take-out or home delivery), and with more and more people working from home.
When I visited the cinemas in Dubai after I got back, they were already under attended, so the closures here (and worldwide) weren’t a surprise.
I managed to catch up on the following new releases, and the last film I watched in the cinema was Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang.
Scheduling visits to the cinema is a big part of my daily life, so it’s what I miss the most right now and I hope we get through this pandemic safely and cinemas greet us with wide open doors.
This cinephile love letter speaks to us and for us, The Moviegoer: Our Critic Misses Sitting in the Dark With You by Manhola Dargis.
“I hope that we flood cinemas, watching every single movie, from the most rarefied art film to the silliest Hollywood offering. The movies can be exasperating and worse, but they have seen us through a lot, including economic bad times and wars. And there is nothing like watching a movie, leaving the world while being rooted in it alongside friends, family and everyone else. I miss that, I miss you.”
Daily life for me during the past couple of weeks has been staying at home as we’re expected to, and keeping up with the news which isn’t the best thing for one’s mental health. I haven’t been the most social person for the past few years, so I don’t mind the social distancing as much, but it has been extremely hard to focus on anything for too long. Yet, there seems to be pressure to be productive — as if it’s business as usual but from home. How can it be?
It’s only been just over two weeks where it has hit us hard here in the UAE, but it already feels like months, and there’s a lot to process, especially the increasing spread of the coronavirus and the number of deaths worldwide.
On a global level, so many have lost jobs, several industries on the verge of collapsing, some reported will never recover, including opinion pieces about the death of cinema as we know it (throwing a pinch of salt over my shoulder).
So many companies, organisations and institutions are revealing the rotten core of capitalism, one standout is Amazon, and countries like the US and UK’s initial response to the crisis by prioritising the economy over its people. If only more countries, if not all, can follow the example of Denmark.
So again, how can one be productive when the world around you is struggling and crumbling in a way none of us have experienced before. Repeating Aisha S. Ahmed’s words in this excellent piece about ignoring all the coronavirus inspired productivity pressure, “ignore everyone who is posting productivity porn on social media right now”. Put that on a t-shirt.
The numbers are rising in the UAE and elsewhere , and not sure how much worse will it get before it can start getting better. If you haven’t already, Ed Yong has written a clear and measured essay, How the Pandemic Will End.
On a local level, whilst information about job losses and pay cuts aren’t always transparently shared in the media here, but there are many who are struggling, financially and/or mentally.
On a positive note, announcements were made about economic relief funds to help out businesses in the UAE and hope there will be enough to help everyone. There are very strict rules about raising public donations, but there are a few word of mouth initiatives to help people in need. There’s also “Your City Needs You” a voluntary program initiated by the Dubai government that people can sign up for.
Whilst I feel lucky and extremely thankful I am at home with my family, all of whom are ok so far, I don’t for instance, have the pressure of the 9 to 5 work routine from home, or home schooling that thousands of parents and teachers are dealing with, or the overall disruption many are facing.
I am trying to eat healthy, finding the will and mental energy to exercise. I am also trying to watch films too. At times I struggle to focus when watching films, but I did find experimental films a lot more effective in capturing my attention.
I recently watched Maya Daisy Hawke: Unfated Yet, a live video performance for Museum of the Moving Image which was scheduled to take place at the museum, but moved online after they closed their doors.
It made me look at her previous works too, Currency of Despair (2015) and Box of Birds (2016) and it was the mental and creative invigoration I needed.
I also watched a few experimental films and music videos from Ann Arbor Film Festival, one of the festivals that went online instead of cancelling.
The lyrics from Fort Frances’ A New Kind of Universe music video felt especially pertinent.
“Oh oh oh my god
When the future arrives, will we all applaud?
Will we believe everything we saw?
Or will our minds be blown?”
I am thankful for the internet more than ever before. Twitter has been a source of laughter, and anger too, especially the tone deaf posts I’ve seen by certain media publications and cultural organisations too. But it’s my way of finding out what’s happening around the world and also what ‘Film Twitter’ is up to. I miss the cinema.