Doors 7:00p
Program 7:30p
Tickets $12

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

We’re delighted to partner with ArteEast to co-present ONE THOUSAND AND ONE JOURNEYS. The program traces the history and legacy of Arab-American migration across the United States. Borrowing its title from Abe Kasbo’s sweeping documentary, this program follows the layered journey of Levantine migration in America that began in the late 19th early 20th centuries and continues today.

From establishing the enclave of Little Syria, to peddling goods to remote areas, to settling in various states across the country, the films show us how early Arab immigrants shaped the landscape of now thriving communities in major cities. Through documentaries from a variety of perspectives and locales, this program explores the stories, contributions, and ongoing realities of Arab-Americans, painting a rich portrait of the diversity of Arab identity and how it continues to shape contemporary cultural life in America.

In Beirut on the Bayou (2022), Lebanese author, Raif Shwayri, travels to Louisiana to trace the life of his grandfather who once worked as a peddler serving the Cajuns on Bayou Lafourche. Alfred “Sweet Papa” Nicola spent nearly two decades, in the early 20th century, selling his wares to the French-speaking melting pot that was developing on the edge of civilization. His years of traveling to these isolated villages would eventually, and surprisingly, lead to substantial aid for tens of thousands of disabled and impoverished children in Lebanon. This film celebrates the rarely told story of early Arab-American immigrants and includes never-before-seen 16mm footage of South Louisiana and Beirut from the 1950s, as well as rare photos of early Cajun life. It also features an original Arabic score and a cover of a Cajun classic using Arabic instruments.

A Thousand and One Journeys: The Arab Americans (2015), from which this program borrows its title, is a documentary offering a broad historical lens on Arab migration to the U.S. It follows the formation of early communities such as Little Syria in lower Manhattan, the rise of peddling routes that took immigrants deep into the American South and Midwest, and the ways Arab Americans built lives, businesses, and cultural networks across the country. The film grounds the program in a foundational national history while highlighting New York City as one of the earliest and most significant sites of Arab-American settlement.

The films will be followed by a talk on the history of Little Syria in lower Manhattan with Linda Jacobs scholar & author of Strangers in the West: The Syrian Colony of New York City, 1880-1900. 

This program is collaboration with curator Nanor Vosgueritchian and is part of ArteEast’s Unpacking the ArteArchive series, which highlights curated selections from the ArteArchive, ArteEast’s film and video collection in dialogue with contemporary voices. The full program, including additional films and a recorded discussion with filmmaker Abe Kanso, will be presented online on artearchive.org from April 23- May 3.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Program

Beirut on the Bayou by Brent Joseph

2022, 28 mins.

A Thousand and One Journeys: The Arab Americans by Abe Kasbo

2015, 20 min excerpt

Program Duration: 48 mins

Bios

Linda K. Jacobs is a New York-based scholar and author. She holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Archaeology/Anthropology and spent many years working on archaeological excavations and economic development projects in the Middle East. Dr. Jacobs is committed to promoting Middle Eastern culture and knowledge in the United States, founding KalimahPress in 2011 and sitting on the board of several Middle Eastern organizations. All four of her grandparents were members of the New York Syrian Colony. She is the author of two books on the nineteenth-century Syrian diaspora in the United States.

Brent Joseph is a filmmaker from New Orleans who got his start as an assistant in the cutting rooms of David Fincher, Seth Rogen, and David Simon. He went on to edit several feature films and documentaries including “La Gloria” (starring David Morse) and “Shell Shocked” (PBS). His directing work — from Beirut on the Bayou, which traces a little-known chapter of early Arab-American life in Cajun Louisiana, to his Katrina portraits Holdout and A Loud Color — is tied together by stark visuals, original music, and a persistent curiosity about how people find meaning when the familiar fades away.

Abe Kasbo is a Syrian-American entrepreneur, author, and filmmaker best known as the Founder and CEO of Verasoni Worldwide, an integrated marketing communications advisory and agency based in Fairfield, New Jersey. Born in Aleppo, Syria, Kasbo immigrated to the United States in 1980 at age 10. After growing up in Paterson, NJ, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations and a Master’s in Public Administration from Seton Hall University, where he was later inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.