The 17th edition of ALFILM, Arab Film Festival Berlin, runs from April 22 to 28, 2026, presenting a diverse programme of feature films, documentaries, and short films, all produced within the last two years.Now in its second decade, the festival has grown into Germany’s most important platform for Arab cinema, a space that does not just screen films, but actively challenges the narratives Europe tends to hold about the Arab world.
Three Strands, One Urgent Conversation
This year’s programme is divided into three strands, Selection, Spotlight, and Specials, designed to showcase a variety of perspectives and storytelling approaches shaped by the region’s present-day realities. The Selection strand highlights works that examine individual and collective experiences in the context of conflict, displacement, and political turbulence, touching on ideas of loss, endurance, and renewal.
The festival opens with a film that sets the tone immediately. Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36 is an epic historical drama tracing the genesis of the Nakba and the colonial roots of the present Palestinian condition, featuring an international cast including Hiam Abbas, Liam Cunningham, and Dhafer L’Abidine. It was Palestine’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. Its German premiere at ALFILM is not an accident of scheduling; it is a statement.
A Spotlight on Sudan, And a First
The most significant structural development in this edition is the Spotlight programme. For the first time in the festival’s history, the Spotlight was conceived by a guest curator: Talal Afifi, producer and director of the Sudan Film Factory. Titled Sudan: New Projections, Retrospectives, Revolutions, and Restorations, the programme is dedicated to Sudanese cinema, presenting contemporary works alongside newly restored archive films and artistic interventions. It reveals the continuities and ruptures of a cinema marked by revolution, memory, exile, and resilience.
Honouring the Greats
Within the Specials strand, the festival honours influential figures in Arab cinema, including Mohamed Bakri and Youssef Chahine, whose film Adieu Bonaparte will be screened. Director Daoud Abdel Sayed is spotlighted with Land of Dreams, the final film featuring iconic actress Faten Hamama, while art director Onsi Abou Seif will lead a masterclass on scenic design.
ALFILM has never been a passive event. It is, at its core, an argument that Arab cinema deserves to be seen whole, not filtered. This edition, more than most, makes that argument loudly.
