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

SAFAR Futures Young Programmers: In the Belly of the Beast 18

A film event curated by Amel Moyersoen, Loulwah Kutbi and Sally Zarzour, as part of the the SAFAR Futures Young Programmers… Read More
1979-2015, Various, Various, 76m.
This screening has now passed.

Animalia 18

Introduced by Rabih El-Khoury, SAFAR Film Festival Curator Itto, a young woman from a modest rural background, is slowly adapting to… Read More
Sofia Alaou, France, Morocco, Qatar, 2023, 90m.
This screening has now passed.

Soraida, A Woman of Palestine 18

Introduced by Rabih El-Khoury, SAFAR Film Festival curator Soraida, A Woman of Palestine (2004) captures the reflections, concerns and imagination of a… Read More
Tahani Rached, Canada, 2004, 120m.
This screening has now passed.

Fatma 75 + Q&A with director Selma Baccar 18

Introduced by Rabih El-Khoury, SAFAR Film Festival curator and followed by an online Q&A with director Selma Baccar. A pioneering film… Read More
Selma Baccar, Tunisia, 1975, 61m.
This screening has now passed.

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.