ADMISSION: 
Admission is free and open to everyone. Reservations required. RSVP in the program schedule below beginning Monday, March 1, at 10 a.m.

DESCRIPTION: 
Experience a screening of artist and filmmaker Hande Sever’s History-Geography, an experimental documentary film that examines German and Ottoman imperialism in West Asia during World War I through archival photographs and documents, including a personal photo album made by a German officer stationed in the former Ottoman Empire and dedicated to a distant lover. The album’s intimate images are set against the broader traces of colonial violence in the region, revealing the uneasy proximity between personal memory and imperial history. History-Geography asks how history is told, whose voices are preserved, and what forms of embedded knowledge are left behind.

Post-Screening Conversation and Reception: 
Following the screening, Sever and sound artist Lara Sarkissian will join moderator Mashinka Firunts Hakopian for a conversation about the film’s creative process and the role of visual archives. A reception will follow, offering an opportunity to continue the conversation with fellow attendees, artists, and scholars.

This is One Part of a Series! 
This event is part of Histories in the Frame: Tracing Empires through Vernacular Photography. Through film, conversation, and critical engagement with archival images, the series explores how photographs shape histories of violence, memory, and resilience.

Related Event: 
Reading Colonial Photographs: A Workshop with Hande Sever and Katie Giritlian 
Tuesday, April 20, at 12 p.m. 
Institute of Armenian Studies, DMC 351 
More info and RSVP 

Bios:
Hande Sever is an artist and filmmaker whose work examines archives, photography, and the construction of historical narratives, particularly in relation to military violence, surveillance, and censorship. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at REDCAT, Hauser & Wirth, the Georg Kolbe Museum, and the Wereldmuseum. She is the recipient of fellowships and grants from the California Arts Council, Andy Warhol Foundation, and Flaherty Film Seminar. 

Mashinka Firunts Hakopian is a writer, artist, and scholar whose work explores media, technology, and speculative futures. She is a Fellow at the Vera List Center for Art & Politics and author of The Institute for Other Intelligences. Her multidisciplinary projects and curatorial work have been presented at REDCAT, MASS MoCA, OXY ARTS, the Ford Foundation Gallery, and international exhibitions. 

Lara Sarkissian is a Los Angeles–based electronic musician and sound artist whose work draws on diasporic cultures, sonic archives, and experimental electronic composition. Through performances, installations, broadcasts, and film scores, she explores regional electronic traditions and Armenian archival sound. Her work has been presented internationally at venues including MoMA PS1, Centre Pompidou, MASS MoCA, the Venice Biennale, and The Music Center Los Angeles. 

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research and USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies.