OUR LENS

Between December 2025 and early 2026, Operation Metro Surge disrupted daily life across Minneapolis communities — closing businesses, separating families, and leaving lasting effects on the neighborhoods CFPA serves. Public discussion of these events has been dominated by enforcement statistics, political debate, and media framing in which the people most affected have had the least voice.

Our Lens responds by centering immigrant storytellers themselves. The project offers an artistic space where lived experience counters fear and misrepresentation, fostering community empathy and celebrating the cultural contributions that define everyday life in the Twin Cities.

Our Lens is a presentation of these experience told through video or short film created by Arab-American immigrant artists. The goal is to share the stories of 2026 in Minneapolis by the people who lived it — a community archive of immigrant voices, made by immigrant artists, that outlasts the headlines.

Project Timeline:

Applications Open: June 25, 2026:

Application Deadline: July 10, 2026

Selections Made: July 17, 2026

Rough cut due to CFPA: August 10, 2026

Final cut due: August 25, 2026

Final cut locked (captions, sound, color complete): Sept 8, 2026

Premiere at CFPA Al-Wahad Fall Festival: September 19, 2026