14. ALFILM – Arab Film Festival Berlin

From the 26^th of April till the 2^nd of May 2023 the 14th edition of ALFILM – Arab Film Festival Berlin presents over 40 feature fictions, documentaries and short films with high artistic value.
In the ALFILM Selection, film productions from the last two years highlight the diversity of the current Arab cinematic landscape. With renown actor Saleh Bakri as the Guest of Honour of this year's edition, the 14^th ALFILM Selection focuses particularly on Palestinian cinema 75 years after the Nakba. Furthermore, many of the feature and short films of this program question traditional gender identities by presenting queer storylines and protagonists that are brought to renegotiate heteronormative gender scripts. The documentary section of the 14^th ALFILM Selection features strong female voices fighting to bring their stories, and those of their communities, to the front.
The ALFILM Spotlight called "Ghosts, Griefs and Lost Dreams: Visions of the City in Arab Cinema" is dedicated to the representations of Arab cities in classical and contemporary film productions. The curated film program underlines the role of cinema in accompanying and documenting urban transformations and bearing witness to the visions of urban modernity. (Pascale Fakhry, Iskandar Abdallah)