Arab cinema has a strong presence at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, better known as Berlinale, with films screening across multiple sections.
Here are titles from the Middle East and North Africa confirmed so far – all making their world premieres in Berlin.
In a Whisper
Director: Leyla Bouzid
Section: Competition
Production: France / Tunisia
Tunisian filmmaker Leyla Bouzid returns to Berlinale’s main Competition with an intimate family drama centred on return and reckoning. Eya Bouteraa stars as Lilia, who comes back to Tunisia for her uncle’s funeral and is forced to confront long-buried family secrets – and a personal life her relatives know nothing about. With Hiam Abbass, Marion Barbeau and Feriel Chamari, the film is the strongest Arab presence in the race for the Golden Bear, the festival's top prize.
Chronicles from the Siege
Director: Abdallah Al-Khatib
Section: Perspectives
Production: Algeria / France / Palestine
Set during a citywide siege, Palestinian filmmaker Abdallah Al-Khatib’s ensemble drama follows ordinary people pushed to moral and emotional breaking points. As daily life collapses, survival becomes a question of belief as much as endurance. Screening in the Berlinale’s Perspectives section, the film foregrounds lived experience in war zones.
Only Rebels Win
Director: Danielle Arbid
Section: Panorama
Production: France / Lebanon / Qatar
Opening this year’s Panorama programme, French-Lebanese filmmaker Danielle Arbid’s latest film is set in crisis-hit Beirut, where a chance meeting sparks an unlikely romance. Suzanne, a widow with Palestinian roots, falls in love with Osmane, a young undocumented Sudanese man seeking out a new future. Starring Hiam Abbass and Amine Benrachid, the film blends political reality with a personal love story.
Safe Exit
Director: Mohammed Hammad
Section: Panorama
Production: Egypt / Libya / Tunisia / Qatar / Germany
A psychological thriller rooted in generational trauma, Safe Exit follows Samaan, a young security guard haunted by the murder of his parents amid decades of religious and ethnic violence in the Arab world. Egyptian director and writer Mohammed Hammad’s film uses suspense to explore the long shadow of unresolved conflict, with Marwan Waleed and Noha Foad leading the cast.
The Other Side of the Sun
Director: Tawfik Sabouni
Section: Panorama
Production: Belgium / France / Saudi Arabia
In a powerful debut documentary, Belgian-Syrian filmmaker Tawfik Sabouni brings survivors back to the former Saidnaya prison following the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s government. Five men return to the site of their torture to re-enact what they endured, reclaiming their voices and bearing witness for those who did not survive.
