San Diego Arab Film Festival is Back for Its 11th Year!

Enjoy in-person screening at MOPA on Friday, March 19; Saturday, March 20; Friday March 25; Saturday, March 26.

The San Diego Arab Film Festival is back for 2022 with a hybrid festival: live, in-person feature film showings at the Museum of Photographic Arts combined with an online offering of short films presented on the SparqFest Platform.  Both the in-person and on-line  presentations begin on March 11.

The Festival program showcases 9 feature films and 12 short films from across the Arab World.  In-person screenings will also offer buffet-style Arabic dinner.

We are excited to bring these films to the San Diego community!

Book your San Diego Arab Film Festival tickets here.

Feature Films

The Festival opening night will feature Palestine’s Oscar submission The Stranger directed by Ameer Fahker Eldin.  The following nights will showcase 2 other Oscar submissions, Morocco’s Casablanca Beats and Algeria’s Heliopolis, as well as 6 other internationally recognized films.  From the Arab Diaspora (France and the US) the Festival will present Their Algeria directed by Lina Soualem and Eleven Reflections on September directed by Andrea Assaf.  The Festival will also showcase The Daughters of Abdulrahman from Jordan, Trapped from Egypt and Farah and The Anger from Lebanon.  More information about the films is below.

Tickets are on sale now at SanDiegoaff.org, including individual films at $15 (Discounted to $12 for students), 3-ticket packages for $40 and passes for all 9 feature films for $90.  Tickets for online short films are purchased separately.

Short Films

This year the Festival  offers 12 films, both narrative and documentary, from across the Arab world representing a range of styles and genres.  These films can be streamed at SanDiegoaff.sparqfest.live.

The final line up includes films that have been screened at Cannes and Venice as well as other international festivals.  They will be available for viewing at your leisure beginning on March 11 and continuing through April 4.

Click here for more information about the films and streaming.

Arabic Dinner

Each night of the Festival, cafeteria style Arabic dinners will be available for purchase.  Chicken and vegetarian menus will be served.  On our closing night, a special North African menu will be offered.  Advance purchase price is $12.  On-site purchase price is $14.  Price includes dinner, water, and sales tax.  Baklava, coffee and tea will also be available for an additional $2.00.