Liwaa Yazji
Liwaa Yazji (Liwaa Yazaji) لواء يازجي is a Syrian filmmaker, playwright, TV screenwriter, dramaturge and poet.
Early life and education
Born in Moscow Russia 18 June 1977 to Syrian parents; Haidar Yazji حيدرر يازجي and Salwa Abdullah. Her father Haidar Yazaji (1946–2014) was a fine artist. Her mother Salwa Abdulla (سلوى عبدالله(1953– is a gynecologist. Liwaa Yazji spent her early childhood years in Moscow where her parents were finishing their studies. She went back to Syria in the early 80s and stayed in the city of Aleppo for some years before her parents moved to Damascus where she finished her elementary, preparatory and secondary school. She studied English Literature in Damascus University for Letters (1995–1998), and did her Post Graduate Diploma in Literary Studies (1998–1999). From (1999–2003) she studied Theater Studies in the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts in Damascus.
Career
From 2003 she worked as a dramaturge and assistant director in several theater projects in Damascus. In 2007 she started working in the General Committee of 2008 Arab Capital of Culture – Damascus, she was in charge of programming Syrian theater and dance performances for the year's repertoire. She was then more involved in creative writing projects for theater and TV, she worked as well as a script doctor for several pan Arab production companies. When the revolution broke in Syria 2011 she started working on her first feature documentary Haunted.[1] The film was released in 2014. She initially moved to live in Lebanon and then moved to Berlin in 2016. Since 2012 Liwaa Yazji is a board member of the non-profit Ettijahat- Independent Culture.[2]
Works
Here in the Park
This is the first play, it was published in May 2012 although it was written between 2007 and 2009 by Mamdouh Adwan House for Publishing and distribution- Damascus, Syria.
Peacefully We Leave Home
A poetry collection published in 2014 in Beirut- Lebanon by Arab Scientific Publishers الدار العربية للعلوم ناشرون. The poems in this collection were written on a span of several years before the publishing.
The Brothers الإخوة[3]
A Soap Opera written by Liwaa Yazji and Mohammad Abou Laban. Broadcast Premier in 2014 in Abou Dhabi TV Channel and then distributed all over pan Arab channels.
Haunted (Maskoon)
A feature Documentary Liwaa Yazji produced and directed, the film was released in 2014. The production was supported by a fund from Heinrich Boell fund, MENA. It won the Mention Special in its premier in FID Marseille Festival of Documentary Film 2014 and AL Waha Bronz in FIFAG- Tunisia 2016.[4] The film toured international festivals and had cinema releases. MEC is the distributor for the film.[5]
A Translation of "Saved (play)" by Edward Bond
With an interesting introduction to Bond`s thoughts on violence, Yazji translated the play into Arabic and published in 2015 in Mamdouh Adwan House for Publishing and Distribution.
Goats
A play developed in the International Playwright Program with the Royal Court Theatre- London. The play had a staged reading in the event "Told From the Inside" in the Royal Court Theatre in 2016. The play premiered in the Royal Court Theatre- London in December 2017. The play was part of PEN World Voices: International Play Festival 2018, New York. A staged reading at Khashabi Theatre مسرح خشبة- Haifa. Winter 2019.
Q & Q
A play in the Birth Debate Project, commissioned by the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. The play had a staged reading in the Birth Festival in 2016. It was as well part of Women Playwright International Conference- Chile 2018, and Edinburgh International Festival 2017. With different staged readings in theaters, academies and health institutions.
Three Poems
A translation of three poems from her collection "Peacefully, We Leave Home" were published in English by CEC ArtsLink and The Martin E. Segal Theater in New York, 2017 after the residency she had at the Poets House in New York as well.
Waiting for the Guests
A short play first published in Index on Censorship Magazine. Winter 2018.
Collaborations
Second-Hand Body
A project curated by Dancing on the Edge Festival for Performing Arts in Amsterdam 2019. The poetic monologue " Apples of My Grandmother" by Liwaa Yazji was part of it. https://magazine.dancingontheedge.nl/second-hand-body-3/
Kashash
Curated by Alma Salem in 2017 <http://www.almasalem.com/kashash/>: Syria Sixth Space curatorial platform gathered 22 Syrian cultural leaders, currently resident in 10 countries around the world: Canada, The United States of America, Germany, France, The U.K, Turkey, Lebanon, UAE, The Netherlands and Syria, among them artists, intellectuals, journalists, researchers, software technicians, and speakers to offer to public in the Netherlands a multi-dimensional thoughts space inspired and informed by the Syrian KASHASH (Pigeon Breeders). Yazji participated with a story titled " The birds of Longing".
REVEAL
World`s first active reality adventure set in Kings`s Lynn- December 2018. Yazji participated in a lyrical poem "Maya`s Story", music by Sandy Nuttgens, images by Joe Magee and performed by Becky Banatvala: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5aTkEDRTlo&t=9s>.
Songs for Days to Come- Vol 1
Music album features Kinan Azmeh with soprano Dima Orsho, cellist Kinan Abou-Afach, pianist Lenore Davis, and poets Lukman Derky, Mohammad Abou-Laban, Liwaa Yazji and others <http://songsfordaystocome.com/> Liwaa Yazji`s participation under the title : A Glimpse. <https://www.amazon.de/Glimpse-feat-Liwaa-Yazji-Lenore/dp/B01N3YVISD>.
Windows of the Soul- Story of Syria
A film directed by Allyth Hajjo and Ammar Alani. 2010/2011– Syria. Liwaa Yazji was an assistant director. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f9aHCUE-1k>.
September Rain
A film directed by Abdullatif Abdulhamid in 2009/2010– Syria. Liwaa Yazji acted in the film. <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1841828/>.
Under Development
Trash
Got the Arbeitsstipendium Literatur für nichtdeutsche Autoren / Literary Work Fellowship Grant for Non German Speaking Authors- Berlin 2018, to develop the Trash project (Literary/Visual).
Heim
Got Doha Film Institute Grant for Series Development 2019 to materialize (co-write) the script of Heim TV series which tackles the life of refugees in Tempelhof Heim- Berlin. Heim was selected to be part of Qumra Film Market in Doha 2020.
References
- Rebhandl, Bert (25 November 2016). "Dokumentarfilm über Syrien: Von Tellern und Raketen". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
- مستقلة, اتجاهات . ثقافة. "Ettijahat- Independent Culture". ettijahat.org. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
- http://fifagtn.com/
- http://www.mecfilm.de/
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