The Venice Film Festival returns later this month for its 82nd year.
Running from August 28 until September 7, Venice is one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals. It has become a key platform for films from the Mena region, showcasing emerging and established Arab filmmakers.
This year’s jury president is American filmmaker Alexander Payne, known for Sideways and Nebraska. The festival will open with La Grazia by Paolo Sorrentino and will close with Dog 51 by Cedric Jimenez.
The 2025 festival programme includes several films from the Mena region, in the feature-length and short film categories. Here they are.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania returns to Venice with The Voice of Hind Rajab, based on the real case of a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli military in Gaza in early 2024.
Her death gained international attention after audio recordings of Hind’s emergency call to the Red Crescent were released, in which she described being trapped in a car surrounded by the bodies of her relatives.
Ben Hania’s earlier works, Four Daughters and The Man Who Sold His Skin, blend documentary elements with fiction. The idea for her latest film came during her Oscar campaign for Four Daughters.
“During a layover at [Los Angeles International Airport], everything shifted,” Ben Hania said. “I heard an audio recording of Hind Rajab begging for help. By then, her voice had already spread across the internet. I immediately felt a mix of helplessness, and an overwhelming sadness. A physical reaction, like the ground shifted under me. I couldn’t carry on as planned.”
My Father and Qaddafi
My Father and Qaddafi by Jihan is a documentary that examines the life and disappearance of her father, Mansour Kikhia. A former Libyan foreign minister turned human rights advocate, Mansour was abducted in Cairo in 1993. His body was not recovered until 2012, following the collapse of Muammar Qaddafi’s regime.
The film is a personal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mansour's disappearance. It uses family archives, official documents and interviews to reconstruct the political climate of the time. Jihan combines a family story with a broader examination of the mechanisms of authoritarian control and international complicity.
Hijra
Saudi filmmaker Shahad Ameen returns to Venice with Hijra. The title refers to the Arabic term for migration or departure, which is often associated with spiritual or transformative journeys. The film follows a woman who leaves her familiar environment.
Ameen’s previous film, Scales, premiere at Venice Critics’ Week in 2019 and gained international attention for its visual style and allegorical storytelling. With Hijra, Ameen continues to explore questions of female autonomy, social restriction and personal change. It is the latest in a wave of Saudi films that seek to challenge conventional narratives through intimate and visually driven stories.
Calle Malaga
Moroccan director Maryam Touzani’s film Calle Malaga is set in the Spanish port city in the title. It follows a Moroccan domestic worker living abroad while financially supporting her family back home. The story centres on her daily routine, exploring the social and emotional realities of life as a migrant worker.
Touzani’s previous work includes Adam and The Blue Caftan. In her films, Touzani focuses on the lives of Moroccan women navigating family, tradition and personal freedom. With Calle Malaga, she shifts focus to the experience of economic migration. As with her earlier films, Touzani approaches her subject with empathy, continuing her interest in marginalised characters.
Who is Still Alive
Directed by Swiss filmmaker Nicolas Wadimoff, Who is Still Alive is a documentary centred on the lives of Palestinians in Gaza. It gathers testimonies from civilians living under the conditions of prolonged occupation and siege. The film is not structured around a single event, but instead presents a composite portrait through a series of individual accounts.
Wadimoff's previous films Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza) and The Apollo of Gaza both avoid graphic imagery in favour of observational storytelling. In Who is Still Alive, he adopts a similar approach, allowing the subjects to speak for themselves. The film places emphasis on endurance and memory rather than political commentary or journalistic framing.
Coyotes
Coyotes is a short from Palestinian-British filmmaker Said Zagha and stars Ali Suliman, Maria Zreik and Yumna Marwan. The film follows a Palestinian surgeon who drives home after a long night shift, but little does she know that a commute through a desolate West Bank road will change her forever.
Said's earlier shorts focused on comedic, lighter narratives. Coyotes marks his shift toward genre and thriller filmmaking.
