The UK’s largest festival of Arab cinema screens at Chapter Arts Centre with new and classic films from Palestine, Yemen and Sudan.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL + Q&A (20 June, 18:00)
Mohamed Jabaly | Norway, Palestine, Qatar | 2023 | 93’ | English, Norwegian, Arabic | Feature Documentary

The young Palestinian director is visiting a film festival in Tromsø in 2014, when the borders to Gaza close. He finds himself stuck in the arctic winter. Little does he know that it will be seven years before he can see his family again.

Goodbye Julia (21 June, 18:25) | Mohamed Kordofani | Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, KSA, Sweden | 2023 | 120’ | Arabic

Set in Khartoum just before the secession of South Sudan, Mona, a married former singer from the north, seeks redemption for causing the death of a southern man by hiring his oblivious wife as her maid.
Goodbye Julia world premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard where it won the Freedom Prize.

The Burdened (22 June, 20:00)
Amr Gamal | Yemen, Sudan, Saudi Arabia | 2023 | 91’ | Arabic
UK Premiere
Feature fiction

The Burdened offers a striking portrait of modern day Aden and a rare glimpse into the everyday realities of Yemeni families. Isra’a and Ahmed put all their efforts into offering a normal life and education to their three young children. When they find out that Isra’a is pregnant again, they have to make some difficult decisions.

Wedding in Galilee (23 June, 17:00)
Michel Khleifi | Palestine, Belgium, France | 1987 | 115’ | Arabic
Feature fiction

Wedding in Galilee is a lyrical, passionate tale of a wedding that takes place in an occupied village, and the contemporary tensions, contradictions and hostilities that surround it.
Released in 1987 to much critical acclaim, it is the first feature film entirely shot in Palestine by a Palestinian director.

Find more information and tickets for Cardiff Screenings here.

SAFAR Film Festival, the UK’s largest festival of Arab cinema, screens in 9 UK cities from 18-30 June and is supported by the British Film Institute, awarding funds from the National Lottery, British Council, Bagri Foundation and Barjeel Art Foundation.
Explore the full programme on www.safarfilmfestival.co.uk