More Than I Remember

July 15 - July 15,2022

From ICOSA Collective: "On July 15, “More Than I Remember,” an award-winning short animated documentary about a young girl’s search for safety, premiered at SXSW and returns to Austin for a one-night only screening. The event will include an outdoor film screening, a panel discussion with the director and ICOSA member Amy Bench, and representatives from Girl Forward and Refugee Services of Texas who can shed light on the refugee experience and needs here in Austin. The film will be screened alongside an art show Fundraising will be done via ticket sales through Eventbrite, donations at the event, as well as an online art auction. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to local non-profits serving Austin’s local refugees, Refugee Services of Texas and GirlForward. Image: Film still from, “More Than I Remember” 2022 SYNOPSIS One night at her home in southeastern Congo, 14-year-old Mugeni awakes to the sounds of bombs. As her family scatters to the surrounding forests to save themselves, Mugeni finds herself completely alone. From there, she sets out on a remarkable solo journey across the globe, determined to reunite with her lost loved ones and lift up the Banyamulenge people. Despite unimaginable obstacles, Mugeni's story is ultimately a portrait of hope, love, and family bonds. Directed and produced by ICOSA member Amy Bench, produced by Carolyn Merriman, animation director Maya Edelman, and executive producers Eloise DeJoria and Constance Dykhuizen. BACKGROUND Mugeni’s story brings much-needed attention to the denial of citizenship and humanitarian crisis happening in southeastern Congo where militia attacks on the Banyamulenge, a persecuted minority, have led to the destruction of hundreds of villages and the displacement of over 200,000 people. As a result of this genocide, many have ended up as refugees in neighboring countries or scattered across the globe. As a safe and welcoming sanctuary for persecuted people, the United States has, at times, welcomed and resettled, on humanitarian grounds, unaccompanied minors like Mugeni. This life-saving program was nearly eliminated in 2018, leaving thousands like Mugeni with fewer places to turn to for help. Unaccompanied refugee children are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, and for over forty years the United States, working with the United Nations, has provided a pathway for a small yet critical number of this population. The previous administration sought to take that away. Stories such as Mugeni’s highlight the need to provide safe spaces for the children who need it most— and work to expose audiences to the issue, protecting the legacy of the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program (URM). WATCH THE TRAILER HERE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QaH5lxRpU8 The award-winning short documentary premiered this year at the SXSW, and has since been featured at festivals around the world, winning Oscar-qualifying awards at 4 international film festivals: Tribeca (NYC), Hot Docs (Toronto), Cleveland, and deadCenter (Oklahoma City). Date: Friday July 15th, 2022 Gallery Opens: 7pm Film Screening & Panel Discussion: 8:30pm-9:30pm Location: ICOSA Gallery, 916 Springdale Road Building 2 #102, Austin, TX 78702 Refreshments and snacks will be provided by our generous sponsors - Cornucopia, Tiff Treats, Texas Beer Company, and Topo Chico. About GirlForward: GirlForward was founded in 2011 and serves girls ages 14-21 in grades 9-12 who identify as refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers. They support girls through three core programs: mentoring, education, and safe spaces. About Refugee Services of Texas: Founded in 1978, Refugee Services of Texas (RST) is a social-service agency dedicated to providing assistance to refugees and other displaced persons fleeing persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group - as well as to the communities that welcome them. RST provides services to hundreds of refugees, asylees, survivors of human trafficking, and related vulnerable populations from over 30 different countries of origin each year. Originating in Dallas, RST now has service centers in Amarillo, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, and San Antonio. About the Film Team: Amy Bench – Director / Producer Amy Bench is a filmmaker and visual artist who is drawn to the immediacy of film and photography to tell stories of community and resilience. Trained as a cinematographer, her observational style highlights small details of the human experience that transcend formal explanation. Her camera work has screened at festivals including Berlin, SXSW, Sundance, The New York Film Festival, and at MOMA/PS1 and in 2016 she was named a “DP on the Rise” by Paste Magazine. She was the cinematographer on Trans in America: Texas Strong, which won an Emmy for Best Original Short Documentary in 2019, and 2 Webby Awards. She is the cinematographer on Mama Bears, a feature-length film that builds on Texas Strong and follows the transformative power of Christian mothers who affirm their LGBTQ children. Amy’s animated documentary A Line Birds Cannot See won Special Jury Recognition at SXSW, and is now available on The New Yorker, where it won the 2020 Ellie Award (video) for excellence in digital magazine journalism. She is the Director of Photography on three features that premiered at SXSW in March: Mama Bears (dir Daresha Kyi, Chavela), Lover Beloved (dir Michael Tully, Ping Pong Summer), and Shouting Down Midnight (dir Gretchen Stoeltje). Carolyn Merriman – Producer Carolyn Merriman is the executive producer at the Future of StoryTelling (FoST) and a curator interested in the intersection of art, technology, and storytelling. As a producer she works across media, including documentary films, animations, apps, and other interactive experiences. She was an associate producer on The Unforeseen, a documentary executive produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford and directed by Laura Dunn. She was a producer on A Line Birds Cannot See. Maya Edelman – Animation Director & Lead Animation Designer Maya Edelman is an illustrator and animation director who was born in Kiyv, USSR and moved to New York at the age of 13. She studied animation and film at Pratt Institute and went on to create a body of work spanning a variety of themes and media, including animation for documentaries, and short films, and has received an EMMY award for her work on Broad City. She is currently working as a visual development artist on a feature film in production at Netflix. She was the animator of Sara Kiener’s “The Shawl,” which premiered at Sundance in 2020. Her great loves include film, getting lost in her home city, and cats. Maya came to the US as a refugee when she was 13, and is familiar with the disorientation of being in a new place without the language it takes to fully express oneself. She feels deeply that everyone has a right to a safe and peaceful existence, no matter where they happened to be born. In her personal work Maya explores themes related to water, borders between physical spaces, sleep and wakefulness, life and death. Sebastián Bisbal – Animator Sebastián is an animator based in Rancagua, Chile who received his MFA at UT Austin in Film Production. He has a personal interest in stories of displacement due to his own family’s political persecution in Chile. Samia Khalaf – Animator Samia is a Lebanese artist who moved to California at the age of 17 to pursue a career in animation at San Jose State University. For the past 11 years, she has worked on projects for Disney TV, mobile games, and virtual reality apps. She is intimately familiar with war and displacement, as her best friend from childhood is a Syrian woman who has been displaced multiple times in her life.""

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