Cineolio’s Cinenights

Founded by Emirati filmmaker and curator Nawaf Al Janahi in 2020, Cineolio exists to promote short films and expand their audience reach internationally. Its Cinenights screening series presents a diverse selection of short films on the big screen, celebrating cinematic togetherness and promoting intellectual and cultural exchange.

On Tuesday, October 20, Cineolio’s Cinenights returns with an international selection of five short films, curated and moderated by Emirati filmmaker Nawaf Al Janahi. Founded by Al Janahi in 2020, Cineolio promotes short films and works to expand their international audience reach.

The evening includes Aspis, an Italian documentary about a viper emerging from hibernation; Long Trip, a Belgian-Iraqi drama about a young man’s decision over his father’s burial; Moderator, a US drama based on anonymous accounts from social media content moderators; Puquio, set in Peru and centered on a 99-year-old woman’s memories and hopes for reunion; and Tsutsue, a French-Ghanaian drama about two brothers living near a landfill that spills into the ocean. The screening will be followed by an open audience discussion moderated by Al Janahi.

The screenings tonight will be followed by a discussion led by Nawaf Al Janahi. The films:

Aspis dir Antonio Romagnoli (2025, Italy: 15 min)

In the midst of untouched nature, free from any human trace, a viper awakens from hibernation. Every year, it resumes its life cycle without remembering the previous one. But something changes, and a new awareness emerges …

Long Trip dir Ali Kadhum (2021, Belgium/Iraq: 13 min)

After the death of his father, a young man must make a fundamental decision to either cremate the body or return it to be buried in his birth country as tradition subscribes. …

Moderator dir Eli Staub (2024, USA: 15 min)

The harrowing day in the life of a social media content moderator – based on true, anonymous accounts …

Puquio dir Samantha Avila (2024, Peru: 14 min)

An old woman reflects on the life she built after being abandoned by her son during the Shining Path terrorist attacks in Peru. She’s spent decades selling her dreams as stories, hoping they will bring her family back on her 100th birthday …

Tsutsue dir Amartei Armar (2022, Ghana/France: 16 min – still below)

In a small Ghanaian town at the edge of a large landfill site that spills into the ocean, two sons of a fisherman struggle to cope with loss of their eldest brother who drowned during a fishing expedition …