SAFAR Film Festival

The SAFAR Film Festival is the largest festival in the UK dedicated to cinema from the Arab world. SAFAR offers a unique space for audiences to explore and celebrate the diversity of Arab cinema past, present, and future.

SAFAR showcases the broad range of talent from the region by working with curators on themed programmes and inviting filmmakers for live Q&As. SAFAR develops the UK film landscape through industry events and opportunities for early-career Arab British filmmakers. SAFAR aims to increase access to Arab cinema in the UK by working with screening partners across the country, as well as digital programmes.

Past Screenings

19B 18

SAFAR presents the UK premiere of 19B.   In a dilapidated villa, lives an old guard who watches over an abandoned… Read More
Ahmad Abdallah, Egypt, 2022, 90m.
This screening has now passed.

Dreams of the City 18

Presented as part of SAFAR’s new City Tours strand, take a journey with Mohamed Malas through Damascus in Dreams of the… Read More
Mohamad Malas, Syria, 1984, 130m.
This screening has now passed.

Birdland 18

SAFAR presents the UK premiere of Birdland.   On the hills of Tangier, in the midst of the forest, stands a… Read More
Leila Kilani, France, Morocco, 2023, 127m.
This screening has now passed.

The Dam 12A

The UK’s largest festival of Arab cinema, SAFAR, presents a special screening of The Dam.   Sudan, near the Merowe Dam.… Read More
Ali Cherri, Serbia, France, Sudan, Lebanon, Germany, Greece, Qatar, Netherlands, 2022, 84m.
This screening has now passed.