2024 FESTIVAL

FILM GUIDE

A Beautiful Excuse For A Deadly Sin

2023 | 16mins | Bahrain | Arabic
A young man tries to escalate a horse up the narrow stairs of the building to live with him in […]

All Roads Lead to More

2023 | 78mins | Germany | Arabic, German
To cope with the daily trauma of a lost home, Syrian filmmaker Afraa Batous is filming her friends as they […]

Ayam Zaman (The Old Days)

2023 | 7mins | Canada | Arabic, English
Hadi finds himself an unexpected guest at Adam’s engagement party decades since they last spoke, and at last come face-to-face […]

Bottles

2024 | 18mins | Morocco, Italy | Arabic
Said, a 13 year old boy in the old Medina of Rabat, has a side job collecting empty beer bottles […]

First Sky

2023 | 19mins | Egypt | Arabic
A young skater from Alexandria receives a Super 8 camera from his older brother who has recently emigrated. Over the […]

I Never Promised You A Jasmine Garden

2023 | 20mins | Canada | Arabic, English
Tara, a queer Palestinian woman in her late 20s, attempts to suppress her internal emotional turbulence during a phone call […]

Mandoob

2023 | 110mins | Saudi Arabia | Arabic
A mentally fragile man working as a night courier gets caught up in an illegal alcohol ring.

Six Feet Over

2023 | 96mins | France, Algeria | Arabic, French
Son of a former Algerian diplomat Sofiane lived his entire life to this point abroad. Now a student in Lyon, […]

Somewhere, but not here

2022 | 23mins | Canada | Arabic, English, French
Miles away, I watch the slow erasing of my home. Scattered between two places, I am no longer anywhere.

Take My Breath

2023 | 95mins | Tunisia | Arabic
When Shams’ intersex identity is exposed, the young seamstress’ tranquil life unravels.

The Old Oak

2023 | 113mins | Belgium, France, United Kingdom | Arabic, Dutch, English
A pub landlord in a previously thriving mining community struggles to hold onto his pub. Meanwhile, tensions rise in the […]

The Soil and the Sea

2023 | 74mins | Lebanon | Arabic
In Lebanon there are more than 100 untouched mass graves dating back from the Civil War, and thousands of families […]

Valley of Exile

2023 | 107mins | Canada | Arabic
Set in the early years of the Syrian war, Valley of Exile chronicles the journey of Rima and Nour, two […]

À toi Jeddi

2024 | 61mins | Canada | French
After discovering the memoirs of her Libyan grandfather, Sara decides to go and discover her paternal origins.

A Dog, A Stone

2023 | 13mins | Tunisia | Arabic
Mariem, a sex worker, tries to reach Dali. Her unrest grows when she fears he will break the promise to […]

And If Not Now, When?

2022 | 28mins | Belgium, Morocco | Arabic, French
This essay documentary makes an intimate journey into the world of Paulette, one of the last remaining Jews in Marrakech […]

Beneath a Mother’s Feet

2023 | 15mins | United Kingdom, Morocco | Arabic
A single mother in Morocco, trapped in a mundane existence, confronts her dreams and fears, leading to the agonising decision […]

Conditional Desire

2023 | 15mins | Tunisia | Arabic
In a conformist society, Ahmed and Salma, marry for convenience to pursue their passions with secret lovers.

Goodbye Julia

2023 | 116mins | Sudan | Arabic
Wracked by guilt after covering up a murder, Mona — a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage — […]

Light upon Light

2022 | 78mins | Egypt | Arabic, English
A philosophical field trip from Cairo, along the Nile and into the desert in search for what light means as […]

No Key

2023 | 22mins | Morocco | Arabic
Two young thieves find a sealed jewelry box that becomes the envy of rival gangs.

Six Months

2023 | 2mins | Canada | English
“Six Months” is a critique of alcohol within a North American cultural context, through societal pressure and mass marketing.

Suspended Dawn

2023 | 19mins | Palestine | Arabic
Suspended Dawn is a poetic archeological excavation of Egypt’s golden age, the video essay is divided into chapters featuring digital […]

The Factory

2023 | 46mins | Syria | Arabic
A feature documentary film that deals with a group of events experienced by Captain Maher, a firefighter who, through a […]

The Poem We Sang

2024 | 20mins | Canada, Jordan, Palestine | Arabic
The Poem We Sang is a 20-minute, colour and black and white, experimental documentary that meditates on love and longing […]

The Tedious Tour of M

2023 | 76mins | Egypt | Arabic
A peanuts street vendor who turned into one of the stars of the modern history of Egyptian literature in the […]

Water Religion

2023 | 29mins | Oman | Arabic, English
Water Religion is a short narrative film tells the story of Issa, a blind tanager who has dream to sail […]

Ahmed

2023 | 8mins | Canada | Arabic, English
Two immigrant parents are invited to talk about their journey from their home countries.

Anxiety

2024 | 22mins | Germany | German
A young refugee struggles with learning the German language while being existentially at the mercy of the bureaucratic system.

Better

2023 | 92mins | France, Morocco | English
Between 2009 and 2011, I filmed and edited Nassim Lachhab’s very first skateboarding videos in Rabat, Morocco. In 2020, after […]

Edris

2023 | 17mins | Egypt | Arabic, Tigrinya
A 17-year-old Eritrean boy fled the war in his country to settle in Egypt, where he dreams to overcome the […]

Hanina/Homesick

2023 | 8mins | Egypt, United States | Arabic
A young girl flies back in time to her drowned homeland, guided by the songs and stories of her community

Locus Cordis

2023 | 19mins | Syria | Arabic, English
Occupied by Israel in 1967, the Syrian Golan has a military border running through it, which families “cross” by shouting […]

On the Sidelines

2023 | 20mins | France | Arabic, French
Amra recently left her family to make her professional football debut. But her grandparents who raised her aren’t young anymore, […]

Sixty Egyptian Pounds

2023 | 20mins | Egypt | Arabic
A struggling family is attempting to deal with the consequences of a horrible catastrophe.

Tadur

2024 | 50mins | Lebanon | Arabic
A young farmer on the outskirts of a mountain village wastes away with gangsters and prostitutes who lurk in the […]

The Last Queen

2023 | 110mins | Algeria | Arabic
Insipired in the legendary Princess Zaphira, wife of the last King of Algiers Salim Toumi, and his fight to defend […]

The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry

2023 | 21mins | Jordan | Arabic, English, German
Wandering through desolate bars, hotels, and offices, Ida attempts to feel Ismail’s presence one last time and to say goodbye.

VHS Tape Replaced

2023 | 17mins | Saudi Arabia, Canada | Arabic
Set in 1987, a young black Saudi man attempts to impress a girl by mimicking the music video of Crown, […]

What Else Grows On The Palm Of Your Hand?

2023 | 16mins | Belgium, Morocco | Arabic
The routines of two women fuse together as their similar gestures get repeated over time. Their hands intersect through their […]