TOTAL RUN TIME: 102 Minutes

The Seattle Arab Film Festival returns with a powerful celebration of Arab cinema—from 1930s Palestine to present-day stories from the Arab world and the diaspora.

FILMS IN THIS PROGRAM INCLUDE: 

A PASSING DAY
25’, Syria/Egypt, 2024
A woman’s entire life was changed by the war. The destruction of her old life forces her to meet with a man who seeks pleasure. Their short encounter turns into a glimpse of the life she once had. They both find themselves in a situation that reveals their deep need to connect on an emotional and human level, before they wake up to the dark reality of the city, again.

WHAT IF THEY BOMB HERE TONIGHT?
17’, Lebanon, 2025
A Lebanese couple spends a sleepless night, fearing an Israeli airstrike could shatter their glass walls. With children nearby, they face the impossible choice to stay or flee their life.

THREE LAYERS OF DARKNESS
15’, Tunisia, 2025
Ghassen faces multiple administrative obstacles in obtaining a visa for France, driven by his dream without borders and his right to move freely around the world…

MME FAIZA & DR LOVE
25’, France, 2025
Faiza is everything you’d expect from a Maghrebi mother living in a city: hard-working, devoted to her children whom she raises alone, attentive, and helpful. But in the family’s modest apartment, Faiza Alaoui has a “room of her own” in which another part of herself is at work, one that is not afraid of transgression, and that reconnects with her youthful ambitions.

BANDIDO
20’, Egypt/Germany/France
After fleeing from Cairo to Berlin to escape police persecution, Alaa finds himself one night at a friend’s party, 6 months after arriving to Berlin. During the party he meets Lia and experiences an immediate and strong attraction to her. The seemingly genuine and rare connection that develops throughout the night is choked in a heartbeat, the moment Alaa finds out about Lia’s work. Alaa sits in shock questioning his ideas of the ‘other’ and pondering over his place in the world.