ICA is closed from the 30 May – 3 June inclusive.
14 - 25 June 2025
SAFAR Film Festival, the UK’s leading platform for independent Arab cinema, returns from 11-28 June 2025 for its landmark 10th edition.
What began at the ICA as a biennial event celebrating popular Arab cinema has grown into the UK’s largest Arab film festival, bringing over 170 rarely-screened classic and contemporary films to 10 cities in its tenure so far.
This year’s SAFAR programme spans decades, geographies and genres, and speaks urgently to the present while excavating the past. It presents cinema that bears witness, that dares to remember and that subverts expectation. From intimate social critique and stark reflections on war and displacement, to ecological explorations, black comedy, and musicals, these films remind us that Arab cinema is not confined to one narrative but is a multitude of voices, visions, and lived realities.
In My Memory Is Full of Ghosts, we’re transported to post-war Homs, where stillness, silence, and memory map the lingering trauma of conflict. Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo delivers a gritty, tender tale of survival and dignity in Cairo’s unforgiving streets. In the short film programme Rooted Resistance, stories of birds, trees, and ancestral land illuminate the fight for environmental and cultural preservation across Lebanon. And Saify blends suspense and dark humour in a portrait of a failed grifter whose schemes unravel in the shadow of a corrupt moral order.
Together, the films in this year’s festival reflect the diversity, complexity and cinematic depth of the SWANA region. At a time when representation is a vital form of resistance, the programme invites audiences to encounter stories grounded in place but resonant across the world, where filmmakers channel memory, imagination, and defiance into deeply human acts of storytelling.
Get your tickets now and view the full programme on www.safarfilmfestival.co.uk.
SAFAR Film Festival, the UK’s leading platform for independent Arab cinema, returns from 11-28 June 2025 for its landmark 10th edition.
What began at the ICA as a biennial event celebrating popular Arab cinema has grown into the UK’s largest Arab film festival, bringing over 170 rarely-screened classic and contemporary films to 10 cities in its tenure so far.
This year’s SAFAR programme spans decades, geographies and genres, and speaks urgently to the present while excavating the past. It presents cinema that bears witness, that dares to remember and that subverts expectation. From intimate social critique and stark reflections on war and displacement, to ecological explorations, black comedy, and musicals, these films remind us that Arab cinema is not confined to one narrative but is a multitude of voices, visions, and lived realities.
In My Memory Is Full of Ghosts, we’re transported to post-war Homs, where stillness, silence, and memory map the lingering trauma of conflict. Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo delivers a gritty, tender tale of survival and dignity in Cairo’s unforgiving streets. In the short film programme Rooted Resistance, stories of birds, trees, and ancestral land illuminate the fight for environmental and cultural preservation across Lebanon. And Saify blends suspense and dark humour in a portrait of a failed grifter whose schemes unravel in the shadow of a corrupt moral order.
Together, the films in this year’s festival reflect the diversity, complexity and cinematic depth of the SWANA region. At a time when representation is a vital form of resistance, the programme invites audiences to encounter stories grounded in place but resonant across the world, where filmmakers channel memory, imagination, and defiance into deeply human acts of storytelling.
Get your tickets now and view the full programme on www.safarfilmfestival.co.uk.
SAFAR Film Festival 2025 runs from 11-28 June with screenings in London, in 9 other cities across the UK and online in partnership with Aflamuna. It is organised by the Arab British Centre and is supported by the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery, the British Council, the Bagri Foundation, the Asfari Foundation, the City of London Corporation and Barjeel Art Foundation. Presented in partnership with Shubbak Festival.
Programme
Saturday 14 June, 2pm
My Memory is Full of Ghosts + What Ghosts Travel with Us?
In director Anas Zawahri’s first feature length documentary, he crafts a visual elegy of Homs, Syria; a city suspended between the echoes of its past and the silence of its present.
Saturday 14 June, 8.45pm
Seeking Haven for Mr Rambo + Q&A
In Cairo’s crowded streets, 30-year-old Hassan (Essam Omar) faces eviction alongside his mother (Samaa Ibrahim) and loyal dog, Rambo. When a violent altercation forces Rambo to defend him, Hassan must navigate a hostile city in search of safety and confront his deepest fears along the way.
Saturday 21 June, 1.45pm
Rooted Resistance + Q&A
From Lebanon’s mountain forests to its arid plains, Rooted Resistance brings together four powerful short films that bear witness to the deep ties between nature, memory, and survival across the Arab region.
Tuesday 24 June, 6.30pm
Watch Out for Zouzou
SAFAR Film Festival is proud to be presenting the newly restored Watch Out for Zouzou (1972), by Hassan Al-Imam, a beloved 1970s Egyptian musical brimming with wit, romance, and cultural tension.
Wednesday 25 June, 6.30pm
Saify + Q&A
At 40 years old, Saify Muhammed is a washed-up confidence trickster who owes money to everyone, including his ex-wife. Now he finds himself trying his hand at blackmail.
Saturday 28 June, 6pm
Sudan, Remember Us + Q&A
Spanning the years from the Sudanese revolution of 2019, to the outbreak of the grievous civil war in 2023, this immensely moving documentary captures a collective portrait of Sudanese youth, dreaming of a new, democratic Sudan.
Saturday 14 June, 2pm
My Memory is Full of Ghosts + What Ghosts Travel with Us?
In director Anas Zawahri’s first feature length documentary, he crafts a visual elegy of Homs, Syria; a city suspended between the echoes of its past and the silence of its present.
Saturday 14 June, 8.45pm
Seeking Haven for Mr Rambo + Q&A
In Cairo’s crowded streets, 30-year-old Hassan (Essam Omar) faces eviction alongside his mother (Samaa Ibrahim) and loyal dog, Rambo. When a violent altercation forces Rambo to defend him, Hassan must navigate a hostile city in search of safety and confront his deepest fears along the way.
Saturday 21 June, 1.45pm
Rooted Resistance + Q&A
From Lebanon’s mountain forests to its arid plains, Rooted Resistance brings together four powerful short films that bear witness to the deep ties between nature, memory, and survival across the Arab region.
Tuesday 24 June, 6.30pm
Watch Out for Zouzou
SAFAR Film Festival is proud to be presenting the newly restored Watch Out for Zouzou (1972), by Hassan Al-Imam, a beloved 1970s Egyptian musical brimming with wit, romance, and cultural tension.
Wednesday 25 June, 6.30pm
Saify + Q&A
At 40 years old, Saify Muhammed is a washed-up confidence trickster who owes money to everyone, including his ex-wife. Now he finds himself trying his hand at blackmail.
Saturday 28 June, 6pm
Sudan, Remember Us + Q&A
Spanning the years from the Sudanese revolution of 2019, to the outbreak of the grievous civil war in 2023, this immensely moving documentary captures a collective portrait of Sudanese youth, dreaming of a new, democratic Sudan.
no. 236848.