Spaces of Encounter is a specially curated programme of short films selected by dance artist, festival director and filmmaker Omar Rajeh. Throughout his work, Rajeh explores the relationship between bodies, memory and place, examining how movement can reveal the social, political and emotional landscapes we inhabit. He brings together a collection of films that reflect these ongoing artistic enquiries for this year’s digital festival programme.
Spanning streets, apartments, rooftops, ruins, public squares and temporary architectures, the selected works explore how movement transforms our experience of place and of one another (and its relations). Architecture and the material fabric of the city become active participants within the films: walls, windows, staircases, concrete, debris, light and distance shape the choreography of everyday life.
Together, these films offer a rich and layered meditation on encounters, belonging and coexistence, inviting audiences to consider how bodies move through and are shaped by the spaces they inhabit.
Films to be announced
-
Omar Rajeh
Choreographer, Dancer & Artistic Director
Omar Rajeh (he/him)
Choreographer, Dancer & Artistic Director
Beirut (Lebanon), Lyon (France)
Omar Rajeh is a choreographer and dancer, founder and artistic director of Maqamat.
After establishing his base in Lebanon in 2002, he relocated to Lyon in 2020, continuing to create and tour between Lebanon, France, and internationally.
Across more than twenty choreographic works presented on major international stages, Rajeh develops a practice that questions the politics of gatherings and relationships. He treats space as a living composition of meaning: how it is arranged, occupied, and negotiated shapes the nature of relationships. Central to his approach is maqam – a practice of instant composition that conceives the body as a constellation of shifting centres in constant dialogue, organising space through relationships rather than form.
Rajeh’s artistic work is inseparable from the cultural ecosystems he has initiated and sustained. He founded BIPOD – Beirut International Platform of Dance, co-founded the Masahat network, and initiated Takween, an intensive training program. In 2017 he established Citerne Beirut, a pioneering choreographic centre in Lebanon, later reimagined as Citerne.live, a digital platform dedicated to artistic circulation and documentation.
For his contribution to culture, he was distinguished by the French Ministry of Culture as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
More from Omar Rajeh

16 - 17 Oct 2026
In-person
Barbican Pit
Cie Omar Rajeh & Maqamat Dance is Not for Us
An intimate solo that speaks of Lebanon and a world that froze before it could become a future

7 Oct - 30 Nov 2026
DigitalCie Omar Rajeh & Maqamat The Odor of Elephants After the Rain
A dance film that bears witness to Beirut and its people in the wake of a devastating explosion

18 Oct 2026
In-person
Barbican Cinema 3
Omar Rajeh Dance Umbrella Film Series: Sunday Shorts
Film curation exploring the social, political and emotional landscapes we inhabit through movement




