A Moroccan fiction film, 'The Damned Don't Cry', will open the festival on April 26 at Kino Arsenal.
Arab Film Festival Berlin (ALFILM) has announced the dates of its 14th edition, scheduled to take place from April April 26 – May 2, 2023, in Berlin.
ALFILM will present more than 4o feature films, documentaries, shorts films in its three sections: ALFILM Selection, ALFILM Spotlight, ALFILM Atelier.
It is the main cultural event in Germany providing a platform to the diverse Arab cinema. The festival focuses on artistically and thematically outstanding films from the Arab World and its diaspora.
The Moroccan fiction film The Damned Don’t Cry by Fyzal Boulifa will kick off the festival in Kino Arsenal on April 26.
In the ALFILM Selection, film productions from the last two years will highlight the diversity of the current Arab cinematic landscape.
As part of a special programme dedicated to actor Saleh Bakri, the Guest of Honour of this year’s edition, three of his latest films will be screened in his presence (The Blue Caftan by Myriam Touzani, Beirut Hold’em by Michel Kammoun and Alam by Firas Khoury). He will also participate in a master class dedicated to his extensive career and involvement with Arab and Palestinian Cinema.
In addition to screening films like Foragers by Jumana Manna, Mediterranean Fever by Maha Hajand, Alam by Firas Khoury, the 14th ALFILM Selection will also feature a panel discussion dedicated to Palestinian cinema 75 years after the Nakba.
Furthermore, many of the feature and short films question traditional gender identities by presenting queer storylines and protagonists that are brought to renegotiate heteronormative gender scripts.
The documentary section of the 14th ALFILM Selection features strong female voices fighting to bring their stories and those of their communities to the front.
The ALFILM Spotlight called Ghosts, Griefs and Lost Dreams: Visions of the City in Arab Cinema will open with the Tunisian film Ashkal by Youssef Chebbi. The curated film programme is dedicated to the representations of Arab cities in classical and contemporary film productions. It underlines the role of cinema in accompanying and documenting urban transformations and bearing witness to the visions of urban modernity.
Many Film Talks, two Panel discussions and two Master Classes will take place in the framework of the ALFILM Atelier. They will be mostly presented in the newly inaugurated space of Sinema Transtopia in Wedding. A special focus is dedicated to the Arab Diaspora through the panel discussion called The Arab City Re-envisioned: Exilic perspectives.
