At an Albuquerque, New Mexico, airport gate, a Palestinian woman wailed in fear that her flight had been canceled — a moment recounted by Arab American poet Naomi Shihab Nye in her poem “Gate A-4.” Nye reassured her in Arabic that the plane had only been delayed, called her sons and even connected her with fellow poets. Slowly, the woman’s panic eased and she began sharing homemade ma’amool cookies with those around her. 

“I think about that poem a lot,” said Michelle Baroody, curator of Mizna’s annual Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. “What does it mean to create a world that acknowledges our differences and sees that as strengths to build community and create a shared world? It’s deceptively simple, but it has this message that we just need to hear.”

Across the Twin Cities, artists are putting that idea into practice. Filmmakers, playwrights, dancers and musicians pull audiences into the global liberation struggles of Black, Indigenous and communities of color — from an Arab film festival and an Indian dance performance to new Hmong and Mexican-inspired plays and a Latinx festival that calls the community to the dance floor. 

Film festival spotlights Arab and SWANA communities

The 19th annual Twin Cities Arab Film Festival will kick off on Wednesday, Sept. 24, highlighting stories from Arab, Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) communities at Minneapolis’ Main Cinema. 

“I think the festival becomes a snapshot of what it means to be part of a SWANA community or be part of the diaspora,” said Baroody, who is currently working on a book project examining Arab American archives. “The experience of being in a room together made me think about how we carry an embodied archive. We carry histories.”

Through documentaries, shorts, comedies and community events, the festival draws attention to urgent issues such as the ongoing genocide in Gaza, forced displacement in Sudan, and humanitarian crises across the Southwest Asian and North African region. 

“For those of us who live in the U.S., those histories are so buried and erased and silenced,” Baroody said. “But the thing that I find really interesting in Palestinian cinema, is that they recount those histories not for Western audiences but for Palestinians.” 

Highlights this year include “All That’s Left of You,” following a Palestinian teenager joining local protests against the Israeli occupation in the 1980s; a free outdoor screening of the absurdist romantic comedy “Divine Intervention,” about a Palestinian man living in Jerusalem and a Palestinian woman from Ramallah; the documentary “Sudan, Remember Us,” chronicling young Sudanese activists who used poetry, music and art to inspire a revolution; and a Minnesota Made short film series. 

The festival opens on Sept. 24 with a reception and continues with community events, including a filmmaking workshop, a “teach-in” with Decolonize Sudan, a dance night at the Cedar, and a filmmaker roundtable discussion at the A-Mill Artist Lofts. 

“Film and art are sometimes used as distractions to kind of lull us into a passive mode of engagement,” Baroody said. “One of the things I hope people walk away with this year is just feeling like they have agency and that we are creating spaces in the festival where we can make connections and see each other.” 

Tacos, tequila and tunes in St. Paul

St. Paul’s Viva La Vida Taco & Tequila Festival takes over Rice Street this weekend with live music, lucha libre wrestling, food trucks and tequila tastings. Saturday’s main stage performances bring salsa, cumbia, merengue, funk, retro pop, hip-hop, soul, and disco-jazz, with bachata, salsa and Spanish rock throwbacks from the 1980s through the 2000s on the second stage. Sunday’s main stage features ranchera, bolero and cumbia from Banda La Verdadera, reggae and dancehall from International Reggae Allstars, as well as country-rock and Mexican folk on the second stage. 

Expect tacos from Habanero Tacos, The Compadres, Don Papi Chulo, Taqueria El Patron, Don Ramón, plus churros, snow cones, donuts, and Southern barbecue. For an extra $30, festival-goers can sample six different tequila brands. 

Dancers transform grief into a movement of liberation

Ananya Dance Theatre presents a new work, “Swapnō Jhnāp: Dream Jumping” at St. Catherine University, inspired by the concept of quantum jumping, or moving between energy states. Dancers lead audiences from oceans of grief to the joy of a dance club, from the birth of mythical creatures to landscapes scarred by war to remind us that we can weather political polarization and injustice when we engage collectively.

Twin Cities playwrights explore Hmong and Mexican girlhood

Exposed Brick Theatre, a Twin Cities-based theater company centering stories by Black, Indigenous and artists of color, is hosting “Through our Eyes 2,” a three-week play festival showcasing new work from six local emerging playwrights. Over the past year, the writers have developed their scripts through mentorship and collaboration with the theater. 

The festival kicks off this weekend at Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis with two world premieres. Sunny Thao’s “Burn and Dash” follows two Hmong girls forming a deep friendship while fighting to escape the life of becoming child brides. Mayra Gurrola Calderón’s play “Quinceñera” explores family secrets and self-discovery as a young girl prepares for her 15th birthday celebration. 

The final week moves to 825 Arts in St. Paul, featuring staged readings of three new plays. Johanna Keller Flores’ “Something’s in the Water,” tells the story of a couple moving into a new home only to have an unexpected presence disrupt their lives. Michelle de Joya’s “AB Nails” follows a Vietnamese family faced with losing their nail salon in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood until a Black nail artist joins their staff and Jamaka Young’s “Underground Intersection” combines music with a group ritual. 

The theater will also host a “Craft Your Own Monologue” workshop from 6 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 26 and a free “Puppet Making & Storytelling” workshop at 11 a.m. on Oct. 4. 

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