Film Screening of Contemporary Arab Cinema

Talal Derki returns to his homeland, where he gains the trust of a radical Islamist family, sharing their daily life over two years.

A live conversation with Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, accompanied by his film, Huda’s Salon.

A man experiences a physical and emotional toll when he returns home after spending 15 years in an Israeli jail.

Ibrahim, a poet and journalist discovers that he is dying soon from a fatal disease. He confronts his crook partner, Bader, and demands his share to make sure that his wife has a better life after he's gone. Shihab, a professional thief, forced by his boss to do jobs for him in order to pay off a huge debt, plans to quit the crime world to take care of his younger sister. They both meet accidentally and begin to see the world with different perspectives.

A live talk with Dr. Mathilde Rouxel on Jocelyne Saab’s films. Before the talk, we invite you to watch three of Saab's films.

In one of the poorest neighborhoods of Cairo, the community is the only way for hope.

In a Lebanese village, Therese joyfully prepares for an overnight visit of her daughter's suitor and his parents. She shares the happy news with pictures of her brother who died 20-years-ago in the Lebanese-Syrian war, but is still alive in every corner of her life, reminding her of her hatred towards Syrians. The guests are at her doorstep: they are Syrian! This proposal will only happen over her dead body.

Hedi is a young Tunisian man trying to figure out his place in the world. Plagued by indecision, he routinely submits to the wishes of his mother, including agreeing to her desire to place him in an arranged marriage and take a job as a car salesman. Things change, however, when he encounters Rim, an intriguing woman with an independent streak who inspires Hedi to take charge of his own life.

A live conversation with Jordanian filmmaker Zaid Abu Hamdan, accompanied by his film, Daughters of Abdul-Rahman

Abu Shadi is a divorced father and a school teacher in his mid-sixties living in Nazareth. After his daughter’s wedding, in one month, he will be living alone. Shadi, his architect son, arrives from Rome after years abroad to help his father with delivering the wedding invitations to each guest, in hand, as per local Palestinian custom. As the estranged pair spend the day together, the tense details of their relationship come to a head challenging their fragile and very different lives.

A conversation with influential Syrian filmmaker Mohamad Malas and Abu Dhabi filmmaker Nezar Andary, accompanied by three films by and about him that provoke audiences to contemplate loss, memory, and home.

A Coptic Christian leper, his 10-year-old Nubian Muslim sidekick, and their loyal donkey, leave the confines of their leper colony for the first time.

Three Short Films by Palestinian Filmmakers

Through a clever mix of stop-motion animation and interviews, The Wanted 18 recreates an astonishing true story: the Israeli army's pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared "a threat to the national security of the state of Israel."

While serving a five-year sentence for a violent crime, a 12-year-old boy sues his parents for neglect.

A series of short films by Emirati filmmakers

Five hit Arab short films that made it to the Oscars

Screening of Three Short Films: Nagafa, Beshkara, & Laymoon

A live conversation with Emirati filmmaker Nawaf Al Janahi, accompanied by his film, Before We Forget.

Enjoy a series of Arab short films curated by Black Box Cinema

This Academy Award-nominated film is Shakespearean in its scope and themes - revenge, loyalty, hope, and despair.

A screening of Syrian filmmaker Ameer Fakher Eldin'sThe Stranger (Al Garib), followed by a live conversation with the filmmaker.

A dramatic story of a forgotten society driven by a search for redemption, revenge, and hope.

Set in Jerusalem, Sarah and Saleem are having an extramarital affair that ignites a dangerous game of deceit between those who hold power and those who don't.

1967. The world is alive with change: brimming with reawakened energy, new styles, music and an infectious sense of hope.

Baghdad, 30 December, 2006. Sara, an unassuming young woman, enters Baghdad’s central train station with sinister intentions.

Three stories that plunge us into the human soul of a contemporary Arab society.

A cynical divorced man tries to reconcile with his 12-year-old aloof son.

A dystopian story of a young strong-willed girl, Hayat, who lives in a poor fishing village governed by tradition in which every family must give one daughter to the sea creatures.

Sofia, 20, lives with her parents in Casablanca. Following a denial of pregnancy, she finds herself illegally giving birth to a baby out of wedlock.

Prophesied to die at 20, a teen seeks to escape fate.

Ahmad, a construction worker gets tangled up in an unfortunate business deal leading him to prison. He meets fraudster Ibrahim, who ruins his last hope to prove his innocence. Ahmad is awakened by the realization that life in prison might be better than his life on the outside.

A Jordanian family man living in the hometown of Muslim leader Al-Zarqawi.  

A romantic comedy about a love story between Jordanian Monaliza, and Egyptian Hamdi, set in present day Amman among a community of nosy stereotypes and quirky characters.