The Arab FIlm Club (AFC) is a community-led platform based in London and spearheaded by Palestinian-Irish actress Sarah Agha to showcase exceptional cinema from the Arab world. The platform initially started off as an Arab play reading club founded during the days of COVID-19, amidst a lockdown in July 2020. Over the course of year, the members of the club read, discussed, and enacted texts by a variety of Arab writers, ranging from adaptations of the 8th century Arabian Nights and innovative theater from the Egyptian 1920s to contemporary plays published by the diaspora. The first reading the group did together was a stage adaptation of Returning to Haifa by acclaimed Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
A space where individuals within the diaspora, who are trying to navigate their identity, and sense of home could come together and explore texts from the MENA region, after a few sessions and the realization that the Arab world has so much to offer in terms of art and culture, the former reading get-together soon grew into a regular monthly film club with over 75 active members.
Each month the AFC picks a title written and directed by an Arab filmmaker to share and discuss thoughts on the film’s discourse through sessions either held online or in-person. So far they have watched and discussed films from Algeria, Egypt, the occupied Golan Heights, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Tunisia, with the first film they watched being The Silences of the Palaces (1994) by Tunisian director Moufida Tlatli, who is known for being the first Arab woman to direct a feature film.
Now, the film has expanded its reach through the launch of the Arab Film Club Podcast, debuting on May 1 with an initial five-episode season dedicated solely to Palestinian cinema. Each episode will highlight five different Palestinian filmmakers through intimate interviews, offering a glimpse into Palestinian life. Featured filmmakers will include Darin J. Sallam, best known for her breakout feature Farha, which was Jordan’s Oscar selection for Best International Film in 2022. Agha will also sit down with Bye Bye Tiberias director Lina Soualem.
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Discussing the decision to launch the pod, organizers said they felt compelled to “elevate Palestinian voices” as the violence in the Middle East continues.
“Palestinians are often dehumanized and demonized in the Western media or reduced to statistics in death tolls. Palestinian cinema plays an important role in what is known as cultural resistance,” they said, adding the episode drops have been timed to commemorate the 1948 Nakba, the Palestinian term for the mass displacement during the war.
See the full first season of The Arab Film Club podcast below.
1st May – Episode 1 – Darin J. Sallam on her film Farha
The award-winning feature tells the tale of the titular Farha, who, after persuading her father to continue her education in the city, has her dreams shattered by the harrowing developments of the Nakba.
15th May – Episode 2 – Lina Soualem on her film Bye Bye Tiberias
Soualem directed Bye Bye Tiberias about her mother, hollywood actress Hiam Abbas. Years after leaving her Palestinian village, Abbas returns home in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.
29th May – Episode 3 – Ameen Nayfeh on his film 200 Meters
Nayfeh wrote and directed 200 Meters based on his experience growing up in the West Bank. 200 Meters follows the tale of The Israeli separation wall that sits between Mustafa and his family. Denied entry on a technicality, Mustafa will stop at nothing to reach his injured son on the other side.
12th June – Episode 4 – Annemarie Jacir on her film Wajib
Wajib is about a father and his estranged son who come together to hand deliver his daughter’s wedding invitations. As the pair spend the day together in Nazareth, the tense relationship comes to a head. The film stars real-life father and son Mohammad and Salih Bakri.
26th June – Episode 5 – Farah Nabulsi on her film The Teacher
Nabulsi wrote and directed her debut feature The Teacher following the success of her Bafta Award-winning short The Present. The movie follows the story of a Palestinian school teacher who finds himself caught between his risky commitment to political resistance and the unexpected chance of a new relationship.
