The programme has been curated by Youssef Shazli and Alia Ayman, co-founders of Egyptian arthouse cinema and distributor Zawya.
The British Film Institute will bring a selection of productions created by Arab talents to London’s cinemas.
The festival, titled The Time is New: Selections from Contemporary Arab Cinema, will screen films made between 2019 and 2021 at BFI Southbank in south London until October 5.
The event was programmed by Youssef Shazli and Alia Ayman, co-founders of Cairo-based Zawya, Egypt’s popular arthouse cinema and distributor. The duo will also lead an online discussion about the films selected during the festival.
The season, which takes its name from the book There: In the Light and the Darkness of the Self and of the Other by Beirut-born artist and writer Etel Adnan, includes fiction, documentary, shorts and genre-defying films.
These films include Egyptian writer-director Ayten Amin film, Souad, which was one of 56 films chosen as part of the official selections of the cancelled 2020 edition of Cannes.
Other movies screening at the festival include the internationally recognised The Man Who Sold His Skin, 200 Meters, You Will Die at 20, It Must Be Heaven, Adam and more.
