With less than a month until AFF 2017 and our film selections finally locked, here’s some insight into what’s in store for this year’s festival. We’re too excited to bite our tongues! 
Below is a breakdown of the stats of this year’s Arab Film Festival lineup:
We will be showing a total of 50 films, 21 features and 29 shorts, that are produced in a wide range of styles and tell a variety of stories, from every day life to the atrocities of war. 25 of the films are narratives and 25 are documentaries.
Still from Off Frame
7 feature films and 11 short films are directed by women. That includes our opening night film Solitaire, directed by Sophie Boutros – get your tickets today to see it in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Many stories of very different women are represented throughout the films.
Still from In Between
5 of the films features LGBTQ+ stories, including the narrative film In Between and the documentary Here I Am…Here You Are.
Still from Here I Am…Here You Are
9 of the feature films are first time features from those filmmakers. Many of these films have received high praise and recognition and even awards. Two of these films, Tramontane and Withered Green, were both nominated for Arab Critic’s Awards at Cannes 2017.
Still from Bezness As Usual
The films in our program are representative of 28 countries in various ways, including location of filming, country of production, country of funding and location of story.
15 of those countries represent the Arab World. This year Lebanon and Syria are featured most prominently on our list with 11 and 10 films, respectively, but the festival will also feature films from Palestine, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Qatar, Morocco and Bahrain.
Still from Wasati
We are so proud of this year’s lineup and we cannot wait to share it with you! Stay tuned for a full lineup and schedule announcement. Festival passes and opening night tickets are available now for San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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