LEILA AND THE WOLVES
Sunday, September 28 (6pm)
Co-presented by Aurora Picture Show and HTX MADE PRESENTS
$10 / Free for Aurora members SOLD OUT
HTX MADE PRESENTS and Aurora are proud to bring to Houston the newly restored and first U.S. release of Leila and the Wolves (1984), a film by Lebanese auteur Heiny Srour. Combining fictional drama, archival footage, and fantasy sequences, Leila and the Wolves travels across time and space to explore the collective memory of Arab women in Palestine and Lebanon and their hidden roles in historical events. Prior to the film, there will be a music performance by Zaytounat and a monologue presented by Houston’s Falasteen Arts Festival (The Revolution’s Promise, a production exploring themes of Palestinian cultural resistance and artistic censorship, written by The Freedom Theatre and Artists on the Frontline.) The screening will be followed by a brief discussion and a reception featuring DJ Jackson Allers (Ice House Radio).
Heiny Srour
Born in 1945 in Beirut, Lebanon, Heiny Srour became interested in film while studying social anthropology at the Sorbonne in Paris, where she was influenced by French filmmaker Jean Rouch. While in the program, she created her debut film – The Hour of Liberation has Arrived (1974). Despite that film being banned in her home country as well as most of the Arab world, it was well-received widely and was selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, making Srour the first woman from the Third World to be selected at the prestigious international festival. Srour’s next film was her first and only feature-length fiction film, entitled Leila and the Wolves (1984), weaving an aesthetically and politically ambitious tableau of history, folklore, myth, and archival footage. She continued filmmaking into the early 2000’s, releasing a number of shorts and documentaries including Women of Vietnam (1992), The Eyes of the Heart (1994), and Woman Global Strike (2000). Srour has also written several screenplays, and taught at the London International Film School and Goldsmith College.
HTX MADE PRESENTS
This series offers exclusive events featuring world-renowned filmmakers and artists. Their programming authentically engages with the Greater Houston community by providing screenings and performances that serve our city’s dynamic communities and cultural landscape. It is the sister series to HTX MADE, a series celebrating visionary filmmakers from Greater Houston by hosting a homecoming screening of their work.
Falesteen Arts Festival
The Falasteen Arts Festival is a Houston cultural festival that highlights Palestinian art, film, music, and storytelling—merging creativity and resistance to cultivate space for celebrating heritage, challenging erasure, and sharing authentic narratives.
Zaytounat
Zaytounat (the Olives) is a Houston-based band specializing in music from the MENA region.
Image: Heiny Srour, Leila and the Wolves, 1984. Image courtesy of Several Futures.