Award Winning Independent Cinema

SAFAR Film Festival 2024: On Dreams, Hopes and Realities

“How can bearing witness to a reality enable us to challenge it? Are we allowed to hope beyond it?  And can we achieve our dreams individually, or do we need to dream together, collectively, to ensure they come true?”
- Rabih El-Khoury, festival curator

The SAFAR Film Festival is the largest festival in the UK dedicated to cinema from the Arab world. Founded in 2012, SAFAR showcases the broad spectrum of film from the region by working with curators on themed programmes and inviting filmmakers for live Q&As and events.

The 2024 edition brings together over 50 films from 15 countries including new releases, classics, family friendly screenings, archive films and more. This year’s festival theme aims to highlight a multitude of daily realities being faced across the Arab world and reflect on how small hopes and bigger dreams co-exist within such contexts. 

The ninth edition of the festival runs from 18-30 June 2024 with screenings in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and Plymouth.  

SAFAR is supported by the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery, the British Council, the Bagri Foundation and the Barjeel Art Foundation.

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