Art & Culture

All the Films Showing at Cinema Akil’s 2026 Arab Cinema Week

BYYassine Hariss

June 9, 2026

Dubai’s Cinema Akil—the city’s go-to destination for film lovers—is currently playing host to the fifth edition of its own Arab Cinema Week. A six-day-long celebration of homegrown productions, the festival brings together nine feature films from seven Arab countries, offering audiences the chance to experience some of the region’s most compelling recent works on the big screen.

Running until June 11, this year’s edition is united by a common theme: memory. Whether through recovered archives, family histories, political legacies, or personal acts of remembrance, the selected films explore how individuals and societies make sense of the past while navigating present realities.

From Beirut and Khartoum to Tangier and Baghdad, the program moves between fiction and documentary, intimate family dramas, and sweeping historical reflections. Together, these works paint a portrait of a region constantly negotiating its relationship with the past while always considering how it will impact the future.

Souraya Mon Amour

Director: Nicolas Khoury
Country: Lebanon
Genre: Documentary
IMDB Synopsis: As dancer and actress Souraya Baghdadi revisits her life with her late husband, filmmaker Maroun Baghdadi, through archival whispers and introspection, she uncovers the haunting beauty of love that persists in the silence of absence.

Cotton Queen

Director: Suzannah Mirghani
Country: Sudan
Genre: Drama
IMDB Synopsis: In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, Nafisa lives a simple life, picking cotton and learning from her grandmother. The arrival of a young Sudanese businessman, threatens to change their way of life.

Sink

Director: Zain Duraie
Country: Jordan
Genre: Drama
IMDB Synopsis: A mother refuses to accept her suspended high school senior son’s deteriorating mental health, clinging to belief he only needs direction as warning signs multiply and crisis looms.

My Father and Qaddafi

Director: Jihane K
Country: Libya
Genre: Documentary
IMDB Synopsis: In 1993, Mansur Rashid Kikhia, Libya’s former diplomat and peaceful opponent to Qaddafi vanished in Cairo. His daughter Jihan investigates his disappearance while documenting her mother’s 19-year search for truth.

The President’s Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi
Country: Iraq
Genre: Drama
IMDB Synopsis: In 1990s Iraq, 9-year-old Lamia must bake the President’s birthday cake. She scrambles to find ingredients for this compulsory task while facing potential punishment if she fails.

Khartoum

Director: Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad
Country: Sudan
Genre: Documentary
IMDB Synopsis: Five people navigate the dangerous landscape of war-torn Sudan, their stories intertwine as they pursue dreams, face political turmoil, and overcome obstacles. They struggle for freedom and survival in a chaotic country.

A Sad and Beautiful World

Director: Cyril Aris
Country: Lebanon
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
IMDB Synopsis: Across three decades, Nino and Yasmina are bound by a magnetic relationship. Torn between love and survival, they must decide whether to build a family in Lebanon, or leave their home amid the country’s unfolding tragedies.

All the Films Showing at Cinema Akil’s 2026 Arab Cinema Week

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All the Films Showing at Cinema Akil’s 2026 Arab Cinema Week

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