Ya Habibi: The Story of a Song
A 26-minute documentary that explores the intersection of the Cuban and Arab diasporas through music and dance.
A film by Tiffany Madera, Gina Margillo, and Vivian Marthell.
SYNOPSIS: "Ya Habibi, The Story of a Song” is a relevant and timely documentary short film exploring the hidden links and shared histories of Cuban and Middle Eastern identity and culture through the peculiar story of “Ya Habibi Ta‘ala," a classic Egyptian love ballad with some surprising and unexpected origins. Made famous by Asmahan, the legendary Arabic singer and actress, “Ya Habibi Ta‘ala” — which translates to Come My Darling — turns out to be an unacknowledged adaptation of an obscure Cuban song, borrowed, transported, and in the process transformed, from its Cuban origins to the Middle Eastern classic it became. The song serves as a perfect metaphor of the permeability of culture and identity and the often invisible processes that blur the borders and differences that would otherwise distinguish us, implicating us instead in each other's histories, even against historical odds. It’s a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience for a world increasingly fractured by distancing and divisions.
The Filmmakers
Gina Margillo
Specializing in Entertainment-Education, Gina Margillo produces and directs television, radio and web series, documentary films, and concerts for organizations such as the United Nations and Planned Parenthood Global for environmental justice, public health, and sexual and reproductive rights advocacy campaigns. Using the mediums of performance, conceptual art, video, and collage to tell stories, deconstruct issues, and build connection, her work is based on the belief that art can be a powerful tool for social change. Gina Margillo joined the Hanan Arts Executive Board in 2019.
Vivian Marthell
Creative • Collaborator • Protogeek • VR Evangelist • Lizard Whisperer • Chile Lover • Medicine Maker • Flow Hacker • Wanderluster • Banned Book Reader • Transgressor *evil laughter*
Vivan Marthell joined the Hanan Arts Executive Board in 2019.
Tiffany Madera
Tiffany Madera is an interdisciplinary artist at the intersection of film, dance, theatre, and ethnographic scholarly writing, in concert with her Contemporary Egyptian dance practice and intercultural and humanitarian arts entrepreneurship. She is renowned internationally for her emotive performances that embody the transformative and esoteric inter-dimensionality of spiritual movement arts rooted in feminist and post colonial theory. Her work is activist, confronting, and provocative. She holds a Master’s Degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from Florida International University and a Master’s Degree in Performance Studies from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She directs the hanan arts cooperative Mideastern Dance Exchange, a 501c3 which produces, performs, and teaches globally. Madera created the “Bellydance Cuba” project in 2002, which was the catalyst for her film Havana Habibi, directed by Joshua Bee Alafia, documenting a 13 year process in Havana, Cuba. She is currently working on an ethnographic memoir and dance project “Dancing My Mother’s Body” as well as curating contemporary art and dance projects internationally. She is the winner of various prestigious grants and awards from the Knight Foundation, Ware Foundation, Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs, State of Florida and other organizations and donors.