Elliot Racine

Tickets available in advance at https://www.eventcombo.com/e/FAMILY--WAR-WOMEN-FILMMAKERS-ASSERTING-THE-PERSONAL-29874 or at the door. IC3 Salon Series with: Sabereh Kashi and Ina Adele RayExperience a modern day Persian Teahouse storytelling experience in community at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) with Iranian Filmmaker and IC3 artist-in-residence Sabereh Kashi, and Oakland-based mixed-race Vietnamese American filmmaker, Ina Adele Ray. These two women will share excerpts from their personal films that explore themes of family, identity, and war. The short screening will be followed by a community discussion, tea and live music. 'IC3: Incubating Creativity, Community and Civic Engagement' is a pilot program at ICCNC that provides local Muslim-American artists event- and community-building opportunities as they develop new work and build new audiences.Screening & Discussion: 3-5pmMingle, Music & Refreshments: 5-6pmTickets: $10 suggested (A limited number of sliding scale tickets available at door)Home Yet Far Away (film excerpt)Dir: Sabereh KashiImpacted by the disturbance of revolution, war, and immigration, Iranian-American Sabereh worries about a U.S. military strike on Iran during the post 9/11 era. She feels detached from her emotions and alienated from her surroundings in California. Her beloved mother suddenly passes away and spins her on a journey back to Iran, where she seeks to reconnect with her eccentric and authoritarian father, reclaim her womanhood, and make peace between her two homelands in political conflict. The film is a visual essay/journal that draws viewers into the journey of the filmmaker between America and Iran.VietnAmerican Peace (long trailer & scene excerpt)Dir: Ina Adele RayAdele is a product of the Vietnam War. Her father was an American military officer and her mother was his Vietnamese language teacher before he was deployed to Vietnam. In August 2001, Adele set out on a 16 year journey to uncover her mother’s family history that spans three wars that affected three generations. In search of a peaceful life--away from the violence of war, her family moved across three continents (Asia, Europe, and North America). During the filmmaking process, she painfully struggles with her own depression, anxiety, and issues of authenticity when confronted as not being “100% Vietnamese” by relatives whose stories she is trying to document. In search for her own inner peace, she begins to accept what it means to identify as a Vietnamese, as an American, and as mixed-race person born from war. The film is a moving image collage of archival historical footage, home movies/videos, stylized re-enactments, and still photos accompanied by the personal narratives of Adele and her relatives.Persian Tea House: Traditional Persian Tea Houses were centers for community gathering, storytelling, and entertainment, sometimes by women. In this modern interpretation, we once again bring women storytellers on stage to tell their personal and family stories of war, displacement, and cultural adaptation.Elliot Racine is a virtuoso bass player, a singer, and a creator of music. His music incorporates elements of jazz, funk, rock, and a diverse array of traditional music forms from around the world.The IC3 Salon Series showcases IC3 artists-in-residence and other cultural producers through discussions, screenings and performances that inspire, engage and create community.IC3's goal is to increase community-building through supporting Muslim-American creatives, seeing them as important leaders who drive dialogue and engagement between diverse peoples.This event is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Oakland's Cultural Funding program, and California Arts Council's Cultural Pathways.