Arabic Film Festivals Online

May 20

For anyone hoping to watch more Arabic films (all of us?), we’ve put together a guide to annual film festivals that offer virtual showings. These festivals feature primarily Arabic language movies from around the MENA/SWANA region. Many of the films are difficult to find on the big streaming services, though some do get released after the festival circuit.

We’ve put together information about festival dates, ticket prices, and website links below. Please keep in mind that prices and dates will vary year to year, so visit the linked festival pages or follow the organizations’ social media accounts for timely updates.

Have we missed any of your favorite festivals? Drop us a note at fikalam@outlook.com and we will review the information for our next update!

Arab American National Museum’s Arab Film Festival

Time of year: May

Price per screening: $12 (discounts for students, seniors, and AANM members)

Summary: AANM’s annual Arab film festival launched in 2005 and is one of the museum’s longest running programs. The festival focuses on films from the Arab world and those created by Arab Americans. The majority of the movies are exclusively for in-person screenings at their location in Dearborn, Michigan, but they do make a selection of titles available online. A few videos can even be streamed worldwide, which is a unique and delightful perk.

More info: https://arabamericanmuseum.org/arab-film-festival/

Toronto Arab Film Festival

Time of year: June

Price per screening: $15

Summary: The Toronto Arab Film Festival is a newer addition. It began in 2017 and 2023 will be their fourth festival. Their aim is to showcase the diversity of the Arab world, support emerging filmmakers, and build community. We hope to see many more festivals from this crew in the coming years!

More info: https://www.arabfilm.ca/festival160516071585158015751606.html

SAFAR Film Festival

Time of year: July

Price per screening: TBD

Summary: SAFAR is the largest festival in the United Kingdom dedicated to films from the Arab world. It used to be an every-other-year festival but has been held every year since 2020 with a lineup set for 2023. SAFAR mainly showcases recent films but throws a few older movies into the mix too. The in-person screenings take place in different towns around the UK, which sounds pretty cool. They have not yet announced if and which films will be available to stream but they have historically offered virtual screenings.

More info: https://www.safarfilmfestival.co.uk/2023-festival/

Mizna Twin Cities Arab Film Festival

Time of year: September - October

Price per screening: $10 (prices vary and multiple screening passes are available)

Summary: The Minneapolis/St. Paul based Mizna Arab film festival happens once a year in the fall and if that’s not enough SWANA films for you, they also do a quarterly film series! Some movies are available to watch online for both events. The quarterly film series centers around a theme whereas the Arab film festival features a general diversity of films from around the MENA/SWANA region and the diaspora.

More info: https://mizna.org/events/

Arab Film and Media Institute’s Arab Film Fest

Time of year: November

Price per screening: TBD

Summary: AFMI’s Arab film festival is one of the largest and best-known festivals of its kind. Since the founding of this film festival in San Francisco in 1996, the nonprofit group has expanded to include multiple events, curriculums, and programs to support Arab American filmmakers. They now routinely offer in-person and virtual screenings for some film festival titles and for various other events throughout the year.

More info: https://arabfilminstitute.org/arab-film-festival/

Arab Film and Media Institute’s Arab Women in the Arts festival

Time of year: Spring

Price per screening: TBD

Summary: Arab Women in the Arts is one of AFMI’s newer events. It began in 2021 and has been happening annually since then. In 2023 the festival was in April and in 2022 it was in May so we recommend following the organization to track when it will be happening in future years. Arab Women in the Arts celebrates the accomplishments of established artists through film screenings, in-person events in multiple cities, and more. Some years, the event focuses on a specific topic or person. As with most of the festivals on this list, a selection of titles is usually available to watch online.

More info: https://arabfilminstitute.org/arab-women-in-the-arts/

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