عربي

IBQI إبقي is a visual EP that follows the introspection of Saudi-Palestinian musician, Rotana Tarabzouni, directed by Palestinian director/producer Mayar Hamdan, in collaboration with My Kali magazine. With spiritual and meditative undertones, this autobiographical music experience starts a conversation on feminine desire through self-reflections on life and lessons learned. Altogether, the film emphasizes that true desire as an expression of our soul’s deepest calling.

Rotana resists the systemic pressure to vilify, distrust, or dissociate from her desire – something often felt acutely by women and femmes – instead seeking to follow the drumbeat that beckons her. Like the North Star, she believes that the direction, empowerment, and fulfillment that true desire brings can free us from oppressive systems, guide us to embrace our differences, and give us the space to bloom in our authenticity. And, the sense of connection that comes with allowing and celebrating others and ourselves can lead us toward collective liberation.

This visual EP is made up of four chapters – “Us,” “Stars or Something,” “Here I Am,” and “Slomotion” – each exploring a different moment of the journey. The first chapter explores Rotana’s definition of desire, one that opposes hedonism, egoism, and the force it can have over her. The second and third explore the truth that no birth can occur without death, that the old self must die in order for the true one to be born. The last chapter shows that nothing truly dies, and that death becomes the raw materials and fertile soil for the next manifestation of our desires: our spiritual calling.

Story by story, we will eradicate the shame surrounding desire. 
We will own our desires, narratives, and lives. 
We will remember that we came here to bloom together. 

Visual EP ‘IBQI ابقي’ is available via My Kali’s Youtube Channel – as of April 18th, 2024

Rotana Tarabzouni is a Saudi-Palestinian singer, songwriter, activist, writer, and performance artist based in Los Angeles. She is known for tracks like “Necessary Death,” “Twelve,” and her latest album of prayers and chants made with Superposition. Her debut single “Daddy” was released in 2017 and was featured on Spotify New Music Friday and Pop Hot Tracks on iTunes and Apple Music. She has shared her experiences as a Saudi woman and as a United States migrant in her one-woman show Alien Of Extraordinary Ability, which she wrote and stars in. Tarabzouni was named as one of the BBC’s 100 Women.

Mayar Hamdan is a Palestinian multi-platform writer, director, and producer with a strong eye for design. Mayar Hamdan has worked on a variety of projects, ranging from video games to films/TV to video installations. Her visual approach is rooted in color theory, which she uses to explore complex MENA-centered themes of migration, displacement, and feminism through an interdisciplinary lens. She obtained a BS in Media Industries and Technology at Northwestern University and an MFA in Art and Technology at the California Institute of the Arts. Hamdan previously worked for multiple mobile gaming companies as an interactive-story writer in Barcelona, Spain, and as the Lead Narrative Designer of the Saudi video game company Lunacy Studios. Additionally, she worked on the Doha Film Institute’s Film Training and Development team. During that time, Hamdan directed, wrote, developed, and produced several independent projects, most notably Beit Byoot (2019) which can be streamed on SundanceTV, and Don’t Get Too Comfortable (2021) which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. Hamdan is currently based between Los Angeles, CA and Doha, Qatar. She is a story consultant for multiple AAA games, a writer for a NetflixMENA show in development, an independent new media producer (CR,AR,VR,&XR), and Northwestern University Studio20Q‘s Film and New Media Industry Advisor. Additionally, she is in production on her feature-length creative documentary titled ‘The Myth of Mahmoud’.

Team behind Ibqi إبقي:

Director/Producer/Editor: Mayar Jamal Hamdan
Script and Music: Rotana Tarabzouni
Executive Producer: Khalid Abdel-Hadi 

Song Writers: 
Rotana Tarabzouni 
Hayley Gene Penner 
Yonatan Ayal 
Max Hershenow
Rabitt 
FT 

Music Producers: 
Mucky Beats
Yonatan Ayal
Rabitt
Noah Breakfast
Max Hershenow

Styled by Neveen El-Sayyed
Hair and Makeup by Toka Al-Refaee
Cinematography by Mayar Hamdan 
Still Photography by Shaima Al-Tamimi 
Coloring by Max Drenckpohl

Songs in film: 
Us 
Stars or something
Here I am 
Slow motion matador  

Special thanks to Heennat Salma, Evan Williams, Khalid Abdel-Hadi, Hadeer Omar, Eimann Mirghani, Ranneenn Bukhari, Victoria Zajac, Wesam Nassar, Amal Qatari, Malek Asfeer, Mohamed Fakhro, Jumannah Shaheen, My Kali magazine.