Experiencing Interruptions?

How am I here?!

Years after the Syrian diaspora, many Syrians are experiencing restless feelings about homecoming, wondering if it is the expected desire or another nightmare.  
Mey Seifan muses these feelings in her transmedial performance How am I here?! Using documented late-night dreams that express anxiety about homecoming, she explores collective trauma and anxious homecoming through an audio-visual immersive journey that has been realised with Slow Future Studio and other international, multidisciplinary team members.

  • Mey Seifan
    Director
  • Tanween collective
    Director
  • slowfuture
    Director
  • Tanween Company
    Producer
  • Gizem Akman
    Key Cast
  • Beatrix Kroschewski
    Key Cast
  • Amr Karkout
    Key Cast
  • Sonya Levin
    Key Cast
  • Teresa Maria Simeoni
    Key Cast
  • Layal Seifan
    Key Cast
  • Slow Future
    Key Collaborators
  • Ziad Adwan
    Lead Artists
    Dramaturgy & Text Consultant
  • Basel Naouri
    Lead Artists
    Executive creative director / Sound Designer
  • Riccardo Torresi
    Lead Artists
    Visual / VR environment artist
  • Sohrab Samsam
    Lead Artists
    Visual / VR environment artist
  • Shadi Ali
    Lead Artists
    Narrato
  • Layal Seifan
    Lead Artists
    Production Management
  • Mert Akbal
    Lead Artists
    Cognitive artist
  • Mouna Assali
    Lead Artists
    Green-Screen footage
  • Eric Hillenbrand
    Lead Artists
    Director of Photography
  • Harshini J. Karunaratne
    Lead Artists
    Infrared footage
  • Ahmed El Shaer
    Lead Artists
    “Tank Dream” generative visuals
  • Mey Seifan
    Lead Artists
    Concept and Choreography
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    كيف أنا هون؟
  • Project Type:
    Virtual Reality, Performance, Installation, 360 Video, Augmented Reality
  • Minimum Runtime:
    10 minutes
  • Maximum Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Average Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Variable Runtime Details:
    The project unfolds within a VR space, featuring numerous rooms and immersive environments for exploration. The audience has the freedom to engage with the experience at their own pace. we recommend a duration of around 20 minutes. However, we can also accommodate flexibility in timing to meet specific preferences.
    Furthermore, we offer the option of an installation within the physical space where the VR experience is available. In this installation, we provide continuous video screenings, allowing viewers to enjoy the content for as long as they desire. This serves the dual purpose of creating a welcoming atmosphere for the audience and offering an alternative for those who may experience discomfort with VR and prefer a 2D viewing experience.
  • Completion Date:
    October 6, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    80,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Language:
    Arabic, English
  • Student Project:
    No
  • JUBILÄUMSVERANSTALTUNG 100 JAHRE, 100 STUNDEN, FLUGHAFEN TEMPELHOF
    Berlin
    Germany
    October 6, 2023
    world premier
  • D-CAF Festival (Egypt)
    Cairo
    Egypt
    November 2, 2023
    Arab world premier
Distribution Information
  • Tanween company
    Distributor
    Country: Germany
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Mey Seifan, Tanween collective, slowfuture

Mey is a choreographer, curator, and Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) expert known for her pioneering contributions to the contemporary dance scene in the Arab world. She has consistently explored social and political themes and their impact on individuals.
After the Arab Spring in 2011, Mey shifted her focus to explore dreams, the absurdities of everyday life in times of emergency, collective traumas, and PTSD. The "Dreams Archive," initiated in 2011 by her, serves as the foundation for her subsequent projects, including the trilogy "Destruction for Beginners," the installation and performance "SIESTA," and the participative performance experiment "Reality Check." Since 2020, Mey has expanded her artistic scope to include digital performances.

Mey began her artistic journey at the Ballet Conservatory in Damascus in 1987. She is an alumna of HfMDK Frankfurt and studied Theater Studies at LMU in Munich. As an expert in the Arab contemporary performing arts scene, she actively advocates for diversity policies in the German cultural sphere.

In Berlin, Mey serves as a board member of the State Association of Independent Performing Arts LAFT and is a member of the "Access and Transformation" working group of the Federal Association of Independent Performing Arts (BFDK). Mey has also acted as a supervisor for the PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTIVES program at UDK Berlin and frequently participates as a jury member and panelist in various organizations.
Mey has conceptualized and curated numerous cultural events, including the "Damascus Contemporary Dance Platform" at the Damascus Opera, and the symposium "POSITIONS:DANCE#4 Creating Access #Diversity/Deutscher Tanzpreis". she is also an activist in political-feminist circles.

Tanween is a theatre and performance collective, its projects include performances, academic work, activism and cultural politics between Europe and the Middle East.
www.tanween.de

Slowfuture, a concept developed by Basel Naouri, is a Berlin-based multidisciplinary alternative studio and laboratory for transmedia storytelling and interactive architectural installations. www.slowfuture.org

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Director Statement

When home becomes a nightmare, where to escape? Should the dreamers wake up or should they stay on the train?