About The Lab

Raah is a media research lab based in the Film and Moving Image Studies Department at Concordia. It aims to examine the intersection of migratory processes and media practices. Taking our cue from the evocations offered by the Persian word raah – which can mean ways or passage, and its underlying resonances of fellow-traveler, or companion, Raah aims to investigate the many methodological pathways open to researchers in migration and media studies.

Raah's project is a community-driven model, which hopes to bring together scholars, activists and community partners in a single space, becoming the first institutional hub in Canada for the study of media and migration. Raah aims to host both theoretical and practice-based research, as well as community-facing projects, in order to investigate the questions of immigration, hospitality, marginalization and their mediatized forms.

The development of the Raah Lab website infrastructure was made possible through support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

• Artists in Conversation: Diasporic Image Practices

  A bimonthly series of presentations and discussions with Montreal-based filmmakers, organized by Farah Atoui and Muhammad Nour ElKhairy. Invited filmmakers will share works in progress alongside completed works as a starting point for conversations about their artistic practices and creative processes, offering an opportunity to engage critically with the intersections of contemporary image-making and migration. […]

  2026-08-31
• Queer Anachronisms and Philippine Cinema’s Archival Afterlives – Book Talk by Bliss Cua Lim

  Archival crisis subtends Philippine cinema. Lost films, collapsed archives, and limited access to surviving works are devastating symptoms of an anarchival condition. The flipside of fantasies of archival permanence and easy access, the term “anarchival” describes the institutional precarity, archival scarcity, and circumscribed circulation of Philippine film history. Lim’s recent book, The Archival Afterlives of […]

  2026-08-31
• Black Water (2025) Premier & Discussion

  In southern Bangladesh, Lokhi and her family prepare to escape an extreme climate and flee to Dhaka – the fastest growing city in the world. February 23 | H-110 (Hall Building Auditorium), 1455 Boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest | 7:00 PM Humanity is heading towards a “climate apartheid”. The rich will pay to escape global warming, […]

  2026-02-25
• Stefan Christoff Collection: Montréal Social Justice Activism in Print (2000-2025)

  January 19th – March 25th | Webster Library, 1400 Boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest  This exhibition showcases print material created in the context of different community organizing campaigns and grassroots collective struggles in Montréal. The works on public display include zines, posters and photographs. The exhibition will be running up until March 25, 2026, at the Webster […]

  2026-02-20