Seattle Arab Film Festival
2025-07-15 - 2025-07-17 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
The 6th Seattle Arab Film Festival will take place from August 15 to 17 at the @nwfilmforum.
More details and full line up coming soon!
#SAFF2025 #Seattle #ArabCinema

Seattle International Film Festival: To A Land Unknown
2025-07-18 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-07-19 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-07-20 16:30 - 18:30, 2025-07-20 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SIFF Film Center, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, 98109
Mahdi Fleifel, who made the great documentary A World Not Ours (SIFF 2013) about the Ein el-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon, where his parents were born, returns to the Festival with his fiction debut, To a Land Unknown.
The refugees in this story have made out of their camp and travelled to Athens, where they are stranded en route to Germany. Chatila is clever and resourceful, and it falls to him to come up with a plan; Reda, his cousin, is sweet but hapless, owing in part to a weakness for drugs. To raise the money they need for fake passports, they resort to increasingly desperate crimes: stealing, sex work, human trafficking. To sustain themselves, they nurture the fantasy of the café they plan to open in Germany, where Chatila’s wife will cook, and they’ll make enough money to bring the rest of their family, currently stuck in the camp.
While films about refugees are not uncommon, what sets this film apart is the way the director puts us squarely in Chatila and Reda’s shoes as they try to figure out how to reach their final destination, how to keep themselves alive in the meanwhile, and how to do it all without losing their humanity in the process.

Film: Last May in Palestine (virtual)
2025-07-26 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Saturday, July 26 Film Screening:
Please Click Here to register to attend this event via Zoom.
Film screening will start at 12:00 PM US EDT; 19:00 Palestine, 18:00 Europe, UK 17:00; Running Time 20 minutes, 2024, English language with English subtitles. The film screening will be followed by Q&A discussions with film director Rabeea Eid..
About the Film
“After the assassination of Shireen Abu-Akleh on May 2022, I return from the UK to Palestine and open my archive of May 2021 upraising in Haifa. On this trip, I relive memories and places I left, but it did not leave me, and I ask questions about being a journalist during dangerous events,” Rabeea Eid, film director.

Diaries of Lebanon
2025-07-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
🎞️ Diaries From Lebanon by Myriam El Hajj
🗓️ Wednesday, July 30, 7PM PDT at the @nwfilmforum
“War, politics, or revolution. These are the choices of Georges, Joumana, and Perla Joe. Three destinies tied to a desire to change a sick country. How can we continue to dream when the world around us is collapsing?”
#DiariesFromLebanon #Beirut #Lebanon #ArabCinema #Seattle#Washington
#NWFF

Virtual Movie Screenings: Every Saturday with Palestine Museum US
2025-08-02 09:00 - 11:00, 2025-09-06 09:00 - 11:00, 2025-10-04 09:00 - 11:00, 2025-11-01 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Check website: https://www.palestinemuseum.us/events for current showings and for registration links!
Often the screening ends with a Q&A with the director!

Movie: Severed + Panel Discussion
2025-08-13 18:30 - 20:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
Severed (produced by Donkeysaddle Projects, +972 Magazine and The Nation, in partnership with Just Vision) tells the story of Mohamad Saleh, an 18-year-old from Gaza who has lived through five major assaults. In those attacks, he lost his home, family members, his best friends, and, at the age of 12, his leg. Mohamad was able to evacuate to Egypt after surviving seven months of genocide and remains in exile there, struggling to piece together the shattered fragments of his life. Through his eyes, the pain and trauma endured by thousands in Gaza are laid bare, alongside their remarkable strength, resilience, and determination to live.
Tickets are sliding scale, and a portion of the proceeds benefits Gaza families. (If comps are needed, please contact cole@nwfilmforum.org.)

About the panelists/co-sponsors:
Zahyr Lauren [moderator] (they/them), also known as The Artist L.Haz, is the founder of the arts, education, and advocacy company Koro Rules The Sun LLC. Koro Rules The Sun is an art-based company that creates visual work in service of justice movements and has generated thousands in donations for organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights. The company uses creative expression to Activate, Elevate, and Support messages and movements for freedom and global solidarity.
Diana Fakhoury [panelist] is a multidisciplinary designer, artist, and co-founder of Washington for Peace and Justice (WA4PJ). WA4PJ is a Palestinian-led advocacy group working to transform US policy on Palestine through political action in Washington state. While centering Palestinian voices, they build people’s power to advocate for communities locally and in historic Palestine, in pursuit of justice and collective liberation.
Rufina Reyes [panelist] is the director of La Resistencia, a grassroots organization led by undocumented immigrants and people of color who have been oppressed by the immigration enforcement system. The organization supports and engages with people detained at the Northwest Detention Center who organize for their own survival and protest against the detention and deportation regime. La Resistencia is working to end the detention of immigrants and stop deportations.
Mohamad Saleh [filmmaker] is the protagonist and co-producer of Severed. He is 19 years old and lived his entire life in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, until escaping the genocide in May 2024. Mohamad just completed his high school matriculation exams and plans to study nursing. He is an intern at Donkeysaddle Projects. Mohamad will participate via Zoom from Cairo, Egypt.
Jen Marlowe [filmmaker] is the director of Severed, and the founder of Donkeysaddle Projects, an organization that integrates storytelling, political education and activism in the fight to build a world liberated from state violence in all its manifestations. She serves on the boards of Black Lives Matter-WA and the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, and is a founding company member of Dunya Productions-Seattle. Jen is also a Consulting Producer for Just Vision.
Additional Co-sponsors Include:
Multitude Films is an independent production company dedicated to transformative culture change through nonfiction storytelling. They are committed to care at every stage of our work and aim to shift norms across our industry — with a vision of a film industry that values and rewards projects directed and crewed by teams of color, LGBTQ filmmakers, filmmakers with disabilities, working class filmmakers, and women.
Black Lives Matter-WA‘s mission is to dismantle anti-black systems, policies, and outcomes that lead to the oppression, torture, and death of black and brown people. BLM-WA is intentional about building collective power by ensuring that those most affected are not just participants, but the architects of our movement for change. BLM-WA’s leadership prioritizes the inclusion of queer, and trans individuals, as well as those with disabilities, reflecting the communities BLM-WA serves.

Palestine Narrates: Movie: Foragers
2025-08-16 | TBA
Elderly Palestinians are caught between their right to forage their own land and the harsh restrictions imposed by their occupiers on the basis of preservation.

Movie: Sudan, Remember Us
2025-08-17 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-08-18 19:30 - 21:00 | The Beacon, 4405 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98118, United States
In April 2019, filmmaker Hind Meddeb travelled to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, at a jubilant moment in the country’s history. The long-time dictator Omar Al-Bashir had recently been overthrown after a 30-year regime marked by genocidal violence in Darfur. Meddeb began filming with young activists rallying for a citizen’s government by staging sit-ins, making music, reciting poetry, and painting murals. Their hopes are expressed in signs that read “Sudan free from tribalism” and “religious pluralism.”
For Meddeb, who has family roots in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria, the movement brings to mind the aspirations of her late father: “the dream of an Arab country with its customs shaken up by a feminist revolution.” She captures demonstrations going late into the night with a celebratory atmosphere. The activists are defiant against backlash. “Bullets don’t kill,” says one young man. “What kills is people’s silence.”
SUDAN, REMEMBER US enshrines this moment, but also documents the descent into war that followed. Today, Sudan is engulfed in violence between internal factions in collusion with external arms suppliers driven to gain control over the country’s wealth of minerals. The war has displaced more than 8 million people and killed over 14,000, but is largely ignored by international news. No single film can explain a nation’s complex history or politics. Instead, Meddeb simply bears witness to courageous people receiving scant coverage. Meddeb is always attuned to the power of language—dictators may come and go, but as one activist asserts, “poems are eternal.”

What exactly happened in 1948? An animated map by Palestinian architect Nisreen Zahda
2025-08-30 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
This Saturday, August 30, 2025 Virtual Programming via Zoom:
What exactly happened in 1948? An animated map by Palestinian architect Nisreen Zahda.
Please Click Here to register to attend this event via Zoom.
Screening will start at 12:00 PM US EDT; 19:00 Palestine, 18:00 Europe, UK 17:00; Running Time 12 minutes, 2023, English language. The screening will be followed by Q&A discussions with the audience.
About the Topic
The 1948 Nakba—Israel calls it the War of Independence and claims it fended off and conquered the invasion of several Arab armies from surrounding countries. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As the genocide in Gaza continues to unfold, it’s crucial to put the events of 1948 into perspective and examine the similarities and differences. There’s a stark contrast between the misinformation and lack of media coverage in 1948 versus the live-streamed coverage of the current genocide on people’s mobile devices and screens worldwide. Was what happened in 1948 as tragic and horrific as what’s happening in Gaza now, just unknown to the world?

Film Screening: Gaza: Journalists Under Fire
2025-09-06 16:00 - 18:00 | Green Lake – Seattle Public Library, 7364 East Green Lake Dr N, Seattle, WA, 98115
Join Poppies for Palestine on Saturday, September 6th, at 4pm in the Green Lake Library meeting room on the 1st floor for a screening of “Gaza: Journalists Under Fire”.
Together, we will honor the journalists who have given everything to show us the truth, who document a holocaust that they are vicims of themselves.
We will have art and other items for sale and 100% of the funds raised will go to families in Gaza who are in need of food, water, shelter, medication, and more as they navigate genocide and displacement.

Movie: A State of Passion
2025-09-11 19:30 - 21:30 | SIFF Film Center, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, 98109
After 43 horrific days working round the clock under constant bombardment in the emergency rooms of Gaza’s Al Shifa and Al Ahli hospitals, British-Palestinian reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah, emerged to find himself as a face of Palestinian resistance. With news footage of him pale and shell-shocked reverberating around the world, he spoke of a catalogue of horrors from amputations without anesthetics to orphaned children with no surviving family, and the deliberate targeting of medics and hospital facilities.
This was the sixth and most horrific Gaza “war” during which Ghassan had traveled to provide critical medical aid. Why does he do it? Where does he find the strength to face it again and again? How does it impact his family? How do they process the risks he takes? The answer lies simply in their shared passion: Palestine; a passion they articulate through their support of his perilous humanitarian work.
In Arabic with English subtitles.
A portion of the proceeds from this screening will be donated to The Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, providing medical attention to the children who need it the most and helping to relieve the medical sector in Gaza and Lebanon.
“…an important piece of work… Some of what it has to say will echo for decades, and nobody who watches it will forget what they have seen.” Jennie Kermode, Eye For Film

AANM: Arab Film Series Online
2025-09-12 - 2025-09-21 | Virtual
Films available for ten days each month listed
Arab Film Series Online
Free Online Stream | Suggested $5 Donation – Register
The Arab American National Museum (AANM), Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI), and ArteEast proudly present the Arab Film Series, a monthly curated online program of contemporary and classic films, followed by discussions with Arab, Arab American, and diasporic filmmakers, connecting a worldwide community through film, dialogue, and activism. More information about each film program can be found at arabfilmseries.org
Upcoming Dates

September 12-21
December 12-21

SAFF Arab Film Club: Dreams of a City
2025-09-24 18:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
When his father dies, Dib, his younger brother and their mother move away from their hometown Quneitra to Damascus. The mother’s despotic father reluctantly takes them in and tries to force the mother to remarry. Overwhelmed by the magic of the city, Dib wants to discover everything and is full of dreams. His daily life is shaped by insults and punishments however. Dib grows up against a backdrop of the political upheavals of the 1950s (the end of the military dictatorship in Syria and the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Nasser’s taking of power in Cairo, Egyptian and Syrian unification in 1958) and loses his childish illusions in the face of such violence and brutality. The dreams of the city prove to be a nightmare. Mohammad Malas’ partly autobiographical debut film marked the transition to auteur cinema in Syria.

Film "Half Moon" at Vancouver Film Festival
2025-10-06 12:00 - 14:00 | Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas, 88 W Pender St 3rd floor, Vancouver, BC, V6B 6N9, Canada
The act of artistic creation can feel inadequate when trying to convey the tragedy of war, but for clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh, music is a way to bear that grief and break down the boundaries of emotional and cultural expression. A witness to lives lost and displaced in his home country of Syria, Azmeh questions what role he can play as an artist and musician in a face of global conflicts and violence.
Frank Scheffer’s introspective documentary follows Azmeh on his travels to New York, Amsterdam, and Palestine, where the artist’s soulful music and collaborative performances enrapture audiences through outpourings of emotional urgency. Half Moon: Kinan Azmeh is a profound and celebratory meditation on art’s ability to inspire different cultures and reshape solidarity, community, and hope in the world, even in dark times.

Film "Half Moon" at Vancouver Film Festival
2025-10-11 18:00 - 20:00 | The Cinematheque (Vancouver), 1131 Howe St, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2K8, Canada

Movie: Severed with post-film presentations
2025-10-17 19:00 - 21:00 | Olympia Capitol Theater, 206 5th Avenue SE, Olympia, WA, 98501, United States
Marking 2 Years of Genocide in Gaza
& Disability Awareness Month
The film Severed is a call to witness, solidarity, and action. As the genocide in Gaza escalates, so does the mass disabling of Palestinians. Severed tells the story of Mohamad Saleh, a teenager from Gaza, who lost his home, family members, his best friends, and, at the age of 12, his leg in a series of Israeli assaults.
Join us for the film and for presentations by Dr. Mimi Syed, Lisa Suhair Majaj, and Nomy Lamm. Save the date and spread the word. Read more about the showing here.

SAFF Arab Film Club: Israel Palestine on Swedish TV
2025-10-25 13:00 - 17:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
When his father dies, Dib, his younger brother and their mother move away from their hometown Quneitra to Damascus. The mother’s despotic father reluctantly takes them in and tries to force the mother to remarry. Overwhelmed by the magic of the city, Dib wants to discover everything and is full of dreams. His daily life is shaped by insults and punishments however. Dib grows up against a backdrop of the political upheavals of the 1950s (the end of the military dictatorship in Syria and the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Nasser’s taking of power in Cairo, Egyptian and Syrian unification in 1958) and loses his childish illusions in the face of such violence and brutality. The dreams of the city prove to be a nightmare. Mohammad Malas’ partly autobiographical debut film marked the transition to auteur cinema in Syria.
Also showing:

Sat Oct 25: 5.30pm PDT

Sun Oct 26: 1.00pm PDT, 5.30pm PDT

Sat Nov 01: 1.00pm PDT, 5.30pm PDT

Sun Nov 02: 2.30pm PDT

Movie: Foragers + Floral Autumnal Wreath Making
2025-10-25 13:30 - 17:00 | Anker (Kingston), 8101 NE West Kingston Rd, Kingston, WA, 98346
Anker + @manetteflowerco with @kitsappalestinesolidarity invite you to watch and discuss Jumana Manna’s film, FORAGERS. Afterwards, participants will combine foraged and provided floral to create autumnal wreaths to be taken home. Refreshments provided.
100% of proceeds will benefit @ele_elna_elak, a volunteer-driven campaign providing water and food to displaced families across Gaza. The funds go directly to purchasing goods and covering distribution costs on the ground.
Saturday, October 25
1:30 – 5:00
$100 donation or give what you can
RSVP link in profile.
DM if you would like to contribute floral, photography, food or volunteer.
About FORAGERS
FORAGERS depicts the dramas around the practice of foraging for wild edible plants in Palestine/Israel with wry humor and a meditative pace. Shot in the Golan Heights, the Galilee and Jerusalem, it moves between fiction, documentary and archival footage to portray the impact of Israeli nature protection laws on these customs. The restrictions prohibit the collection of the artichoke-like ’akkoub and za’atar (thyme), and have resulted in fines and trials for hundreds caught collecting these native plants. For Palestinians, these laws constitute an ecological veil for legislation that further alienates them from their land while Israeli state representatives insist on their scientific expertise and duty to protect. Following the plants from the wild to the kitchen, from the chases between the foragers and the nature patrol, to courtroom defenses, FORAGERS captures the inherited love, joy and knowledge in these traditions alongside their resilience to the prohibitive law.

SAFF Arab Film Club: Israel Palestine on Swedish TV
2025-10-25 17:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
When his father dies, Dib, his younger brother and their mother move away from their hometown Quneitra to Damascus. The mother’s despotic father reluctantly takes them in and tries to force the mother to remarry. Overwhelmed by the magic of the city, Dib wants to discover everything and is full of dreams. His daily life is shaped by insults and punishments however. Dib grows up against a backdrop of the political upheavals of the 1950s (the end of the military dictatorship in Syria and the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Nasser’s taking of power in Cairo, Egyptian and Syrian unification in 1958) and loses his childish illusions in the face of such violence and brutality. The dreams of the city prove to be a nightmare. Mohammad Malas’ partly autobiographical debut film marked the transition to auteur cinema in Syria.
Also showing:

Sun Oct 26: 1.00pm PDT, 5.30pm PDT

Sat Nov 01: 1.00pm PDT, 5.30pm PDT

Sun Nov 02: 2.30pm PDT

SAFF Arab Film Club: Israel Palestine on Swedish TV
2025-10-26 13:00 - 16:30 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
When his father dies, Dib, his younger brother and their mother move away from their hometown Quneitra to Damascus. The mother’s despotic father reluctantly takes them in and tries to force the mother to remarry. Overwhelmed by the magic of the city, Dib wants to discover everything and is full of dreams. His daily life is shaped by insults and punishments however. Dib grows up against a backdrop of the political upheavals of the 1950s (the end of the military dictatorship in Syria and the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Nasser’s taking of power in Cairo, Egyptian and Syrian unification in 1958) and loses his childish illusions in the face of such violence and brutality. The dreams of the city prove to be a nightmare. Mohammad Malas’ partly autobiographical debut film marked the transition to auteur cinema in Syria.
Also showing:

Sun Oct 26: 5.30pm PDT

Sat Nov 01: 1.00pm PDT, 5.30pm PDT

Sun Nov 02: 2.30pm PDT

SAFF Arab Film Club: Israel Palestine on Swedish TV
2025-10-26 17:30 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
When his father dies, Dib, his younger brother and their mother move away from their hometown Quneitra to Damascus. The mother’s despotic father reluctantly takes them in and tries to force the mother to remarry. Overwhelmed by the magic of the city, Dib wants to discover everything and is full of dreams. His daily life is shaped by insults and punishments however. Dib grows up against a backdrop of the political upheavals of the 1950s (the end of the military dictatorship in Syria and the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Nasser’s taking of power in Cairo, Egyptian and Syrian unification in 1958) and loses his childish illusions in the face of such violence and brutality. The dreams of the city prove to be a nightmare. Mohammad Malas’ partly autobiographical debut film marked the transition to auteur cinema in Syria.
Also showing:

Sat Nov 01: 1.00pm PDT, 5.30pm PDT

Sun Nov 02: 2.30pm PDT

Seattle Arab Film Festival: With Hasan in Gaza
2025-10-29 19:00 - 21:00 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
Three MiniDV tapes of life in Gaza from 2001 were recently rediscovered. What started as a search for a former prison mate from 1989, led to an unexpected road trip from the north to the south of Gaza with Hasan, a local guide whose fate remains unknown.
A cinematic reflection on memory, loss and the passage of time, capturing a Gaza of the past and lives that may never be found again.
(Kamal Aljafari, 2025, Palestine; Germany; France; Qatar, 107 min, in Palestinian Arabic with English subtitles)

SAFF Arab Film Club: Israel Palestine on Swedish TV
2025-11-01 13:00 - 16:30 | Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 2, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
When his father dies, Dib, his younger brother and their mother move away from their hometown Quneitra to Damascus. The mother’s despotic father reluctantly takes them in and tries to force the mother to remarry. Overwhelmed by the magic of the city, Dib wants to discover everything and is full of dreams. His daily life is shaped by insults and punishments however. Dib grows up against a backdrop of the political upheavals of the 1950s (the end of the military dictatorship in Syria and the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Nasser’s taking of power in Cairo, Egyptian and Syrian unification in 1958) and loses his childish illusions in the face of such violence and brutality. The dreams of the city prove to be a nightmare. Mohammad Malas’ partly autobiographical debut film marked the transition to auteur cinema in Syria.
Also showing:

Sat Nov 01: 5.30pm PDT

Sun Nov 02: 2.30pm PDT
