For writer and artist Ali Al-Jamri, storytelling has always been a medium to intertwine the myths and stories of childhood into the complexities of history and the present day. Al-Jamri, born in London in the 1990s, grew up within a Bahraini community woven together by exile. His understanding of Bahrain was shaped heavily by stories […]
A Knock on the Roof is about Mariam, a mother from Gaza training for war. She's living her regular life, when another war breaks she remembers, from previous wars, that the Israeli military had started using a technique called a knock on the roof, where they alert residents of a building with a small bomb on the roof to give them 5 to 15 minutes to escape.
Art has the power to transcend time, geography, and history, creating bridges between the past and the present. Monya Riachi’s latest exhibition, Safe Waters, is a testament to this. Opened on 7th February 2025 at Lewisham Arthouse, this exhibition marks the culmination of her time on the Lewisham Arthouse Graduate Residency Award. Safe Waters is […]
Music holds different meanings at different times in our lives. In the Listening In podcast series, created in partnership with the Arab British Centre, Yasmeen Soudani of SouqSounds sits down with three incredible guests to explore how their love of music shapes who they are. Spanning inherited family favourites, hype songs, dancefloor staples and much […]
Films, films everywhere! Here’s our round-up of what’s screening at BFI London Film Festival 2024 this October. THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US (2024) Laila Abbas’ gripping tale of two sisters racing against time to assure their inheritance is an inspiring story of unity against unfair patriarchal systems. TO A LAND UNKNOWN (2024) Mahdi Fleifel’s […]
We’d like to introduce you to the brilliant participants selected for this year’s Arab Film Development Workshop as part of SAFAR Film Festival. Over a two-day workshop, SAFAR had the privilege of welcoming three brilliant early-career Arab filmmakers to develop their projects connected to or inspired by the Arab world, with support from filmmaker Saeed […]
In April 2024, the Arab British Centre, Shubbak Festival and the Foundation for Art and Psychoanalysis organised a trip for the Young Shubbak collective to visit Issam Kourbaj’s exhibition Urgent Archive at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge. Young Shubbak is a collective of 18-26 years old artists, curators, producers and creatives who programme multi-art form events […]
In collaboration with the SAFAR Film Festival, Palestinian filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky will lead a free two-day project development workshop on 15 and 16 June 2024 for up to six early-career Arab filmmakers (or filmmakers working on projects connected to or inspired by the Arab world.) Applicants must apply with a film idea in mind, […]
The SAFAR Film Festival is the largest festival in the UK dedicated to cinema from the Arab world. First launched in 2012, the festival screens in London and in 8 other cities across the UK, with a programme of around 30 films. SAFAR Futures is our strand of activity that focuses on developing the next […]
The Soil and The Sea: Fragments in the Wake of Dissonance – Unveiling Lebanon’s Forgotten Mass Graves Directed and produced by Daniele Rugo in collaboration with Carmen Hassoun Abou Jaoude and NGO Act for the Disappeared Review by Marwa El-Asri With thanks to Yara El Murr and Curzon Soho for tickets to the screening. The screening took […]