(Jen Marlowe, 2025, Palestine, 35 min)

Join us for the Seattle premiere of Donkeysaddle’s new documentary film Severed, at the Northwest Film Forum on August 13th, 2025 at 6:30pm. 

Estamos encantados de invitarte al estreno en Seattle del nuevo documental de Donkeysaddle, Severed, en el Northwest Film Forum el 13 de agosto de 2025 a las 6:30 p.m.

The event will be bi-lingual (Spanish and English).

El evento será bilingüe (Español y Inglés).

Severed (produced by Donkeysaddle Projects, +972 Magazine and The Nation, in partnership with Just Vision) tells the story of Mohamad Saleh, an 18-year-old from Gaza who has lived through five major assaults on the Gaza Strip. In those attacks, he lost his home, family members, his best friends, and, at the age of 12, his leg. Mohamad was able to evacuate to Egypt after surviving seven months of genocide and remains in exile there, struggling to piece together the shattered fragments of his life. Through his eyes, the pain and trauma endured by thousands in Gaza are laid bare, alongside their remarkable strength, resilience, and determination to live.

After the screening, there will be a conversation with the filmmakers Jen Marlowe and Mohamad Saleh from Donkeysaddle projects. This will be followed by a panel discussion with local organizers including Rufina Reyes from La Resistencia and Diana Fakhoury from Washington for Peace and Justice, moderated by Zahyr Lauren from Koro Rules the Sun. Their conversation will connect Palestine liberation with im/migrant justice, Black liberation, disability justice, and more.

Masks are required for this event, and will be provided for those who need one.

Please join us afterwards for a brief reception in the NWFF lobby, providing an opportunity to get to know other Seattle-based community organizers and artists.

Please consider supporting this film, and Donkeysaddle Projects work in Gaza!

This event is sponsored by Donkeysaddle Projects and the Northwest Film Forum, and co-sponsored by La Resistencia, Koro Rules the Sun, Multitude Films, Washington for Peace and Justice and Black Lives Matter – WA, with support from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and King County’s 4Culture.

***

Panelists

Zahyr Lauren [moderator] (they/them), also known as The Artist L.Haz, is the founder of the arts, education, and advocacy company Koro Rules The Sun LLC. Koro Rules The Sun is an art-based company that creates visual work in service of justice movements and has generated thousands in donations for organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights. The company uses creative expression to Activate, Elevate, and Support messages and movements for freedom and global solidarity.

Diana Fakhoury [panelist] is a multidisciplinary designer, artist, and co-founder of Washington for Peace and Justice (WA4PJ). WA4PJ is a Palestinian-led advocacy group working to transform US policy on Palestine through political action in Washington state. While centering Palestinian voices, they build people’s power to advocate for communities locally and in historic Palestine, in pursuit of justice and collective liberation.

Rufina Reyes [panelist] is the director of La Resistencia, a grassroots organization led by undocumented immigrants and people of color who have been oppressed by the immigration enforcement system. The organization supports and engages with people detained at the Northwest Detention Center who organize for their own survival and protest against the detention and deportation regime. La Resistencia is working to end the detention of immigrants, stop deportations, and shut down the Northwest Detention Center. 

Z Mayreni Lopez (she/they) [panelist] is a therapist, community organizer, and advocate for collective liberation. A Queer immigrant from the Dominican Republic and left-leg amputee, Mayreni helps dismantle systems of oppression as a therapist and in community. Her gender, sexual, cultural, racial identities, and new disability status are central to how she engages with the world. She believes in the healing power of relationships and the importance of engagement with liberatory practices through decolonizing efforts using anti-oppressive and multicultural lenses.

Mohamad Saleh [filmmaker] is the protagonist and co-producer of Severed. He is 19 years old and lived his entire life in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, surviving every Gaza war, until escaping the genocide in May 2024. Mohamad just completed his high school matriculation exams and plans to study nursing. He is an intern at Donkeysaddle Projects. Mohamad will participate via Zoom from Cairo, Egypt.

Jen Marlowe [filmmaker] is the director of Severed, and the founder of Donkeysaddle Projects, an organization that integrates storytelling, political education and activism in the fight to build a world liberated from state violence in all its manifestations. She serves on the boards of Black Lives Matter-WA and the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, and is a founding company member of Dunya Productions-Seattle. Jen is also a Consulting Producer for Just Vision.

***

Additional Co-Sponsors

Multitude Films is an independent production company dedicated to transformative culture change through nonfiction storytelling. They are committed to care at every stage of our work and aim to shift norms across our industry — with a vision of a film industry that values and rewards projects directed and crewed by teams of color, LGBTQ filmmakers, filmmakers with disabilities, working class filmmakers, and women.

Black Lives Matter-WA’s mission is to dismantle anti-black systems, policies, and outcomes that lead to the oppression, torture, and death of black and brown people. BLM-WA is intentional about building collective power by ensuring that those most affected are not just participants, but the architects of our movement for change. BLM-WA’s leadership prioritizes the inclusion of queer, and trans individuals, as well as those with disabilities, reflecting the communities BLM-WA serves.

Join us for the Seattle premiere of the new documentary film Severed. Severed tells the story of Mohamad Saleh, an 18-year-old from Gaza who has lived through five major assaults on the Gaza Strip. In those attacks, he lost his home, family members, his best friends, and, at the age of 12, his leg. Mohamad was able to evacuate to Egypt after surviving seven months of genocide and remains in exile there, struggling to piece together the shattered fragments of his life. Through his eyes, the pain and trauma endured by thousands in Gaza are laid bare, alongside their remarkable strength, resilience, and determination to live.

Severed is produced by Donkeysaddle Projects, +972 Magazine and The Nation, in partnership with Just Vision.

This event is sponsored by Donkeysaddle Projects and the Northwest Film Forum, and co-sponsored by La Resistencia, Koro Rules the Sun, Multitude Films, Washington for Peace and Justice and Black Lives Matter – WA, with support from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and King County’s 4Culture.

Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion with the filmmakers followed by an in-depth conversation with Jen Marlowe and Mohamad Saleh from Donkeysaddle, Rufina Reyes from  La Resistencia, and Diana Fakhoury from Washington for Peace and Justice, moderated by Zahyr Lauren from Koro Rules the Sun.

Please join us after the discussion for a brief reception in the NWFF lobby, providing an opportunity to get to know other Seattle-based community organizers and artists.

Please consider supporting Donkeysaddle Projects work in Gaza, via our Palestine Grassroots Distribution Project (PGDP).