Screening
SAFAR Film Festival: Generational Encounters in Arab Cinema @ Barbican Centre
01 Jul 2021 – 06 Jul 2021
Barbican Centre
London, United Kingdom
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A Son still
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Their Algeria still
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The Blessed still
Screening
SAFAR Film Festival: Generational Encounters in Arab Cinema @ Institut Francais
3 Jul 2021 – 7 Jul 2021
Regular hours
- Sat, 03 Jul
- 20:35 – 22:30
- Sun, 04 Jul
- 18:30 – 20:30
- Wed, 07 Jul
- 20:35 – 22:30
Cost of entry
Tickets cost £12/£10
Book The Blessed and A Son at the same time for a discounted ticket price as part of a Sami Bouajila Double Bill
Address
- 17 Queensberry Place
- London
England - SW7 2DT
- United Kingdom
Event map
The SAFAR Film Festival is the only 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.
About
The 2021 edition of SAFAR is curated by Rabih El-Khoury around the theme of Generational Encounters in Arab Cinema, showcasing contemporary and classic films with emergent youth, familial disparities and societal tensions at their centre.
SAFAR will run in cinemas from 1 – 10 July with screenings at the Barbican, the Institut Francais' Ciné Lumière, and the ICA, and online from 11 – 17 July with a programme of donation-based screenings to enjoy at home (available in the UK). A selection of online events will further illuminate the theme, inviting directors, industry leaders, and other creatives for Q&As and panel discussions accessible globally.
Check out the full programme on www.safarfilmfestival.co.uk
Screenings at the Institut Francais include:
* Saturday 3 July: A Son, directed by Mehdi Barsaoui (Tunisia)
Tunisia, summer 2011. A holiday to the Southern country ends in disaster for Fares, Meriem and their 10-year old son Aziz, when he is accidentally shot in an ambush. His injury will change the family’s lives forever and lead to the discovery of a long-buried secret. Will Aziz and their relationship survive?
Sunday 4 July: The Blessed, directed by Sofia Djama (Algeria) plus director Q&A
Set in Algiers a few years after the civil war, Sofia Djama’s The Blessed explores the post-war state of mind of a city and its inhabitants: from jaded former revolutionaries to its emerging youth, navigating growing up in a city rendered immobile by its disconcerting past.
Wednesday 7 July: the UK premiere of Their Algeria, directed Lina Soualem plus director Q&A
After 62 years of living together, Lina’s grandparents, Aïcha and Mabrouk, have decided to separate. Together, they came from Algeria to Thiers, a small medieval town in the middle of France, over 60 years ago. Side by side, they have experienced this chaotic immigrant life. For Lina, their separation is an opportunity to question their long journey of exile and their silence.
All director Q&As will be live-streamed into the cinema and hosted in person by SAFAR curator Rabih El-Khoury.
