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The 11th Malmo Arab Film Festival begins on Tuesday in a hybrid format with a screening programme that includes 40 movies from the Arab world.
The event, which opens with Oscar-nominated Tunisian film The Man Who Sold His Skin, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, is showing some of the most prominent films to come out of the Arab world over the past year. This also includes Ameen Nayfeh's 200 Metres, Farah Nabulsi's Oscar-nominated short The Present, Cannes winner I Don't Want to Forget Your Face by Sameh Alaa and award-winning documentary Their Algeria by Lina Soualem.
The festival runs until Sunday, April 11, and films will be screened online, via a dedicated platform called Maff Play, as well as shown physically at Panora Cinema in Malmo, Sweden, but with a limited capacity because of Covid-19 safety measures.
The official feature film competition includes 12 films. The jury consists of prominent industry professionals such as Palestinian director and producer Najwa Najjar, Saudi actress and director Fatima Albanwy, Moroccan film researcher Leila Charadi, Lebanese presenter Raya Abi Rached and Egyptian screenwriter Tamer Habib.
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Meanwhile, the short film competition, which features 17 films, has a jury made up of Lebanese director and producer Manon Nammour, Egyptian director and producer Maggie Anwar, Algerian film critic Faycal Chibani, Bahraini film critic Tariq Albahhar and Emirati actor Mansoor Alfeeli.
Other films will be screened under an Arabian Nights programme and a special screening of shorts.
Discussions will take place after the screenings on Maff Play and will remain available for viewing throughout the festival.
This year's programme will also include masterclasses with screenwriter Mariam Naoum, moderated by film critic Ahmed Shawky, and actress Mona Zaki, moderated by Habib – all from Egypt.
Here is the full list of films running in competition:
Feature film competition
200 Metres – directed by Ameen Nayfeh (Palestine, Sweden, Italy, Qatar, Jordan)
Autumn of Apple Trees – directed by Mohamed Mouftakir (Morocco)
Curfew – directed by Amir Ramses (Egypt)
The Dilemma – directed by Ghazi Zaghbani (Tunisia)
The Disqualified – directed by Hamza Ouni (France, Tunisia, Qatar)
Gaza Mon Amour – directed by Arab and Tarzan Nasser (Palestine, France, Germany, Portugal, Qatar)
The Man Who Sold His Skin – directed by Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden)
The Postcard – directed by Asmae El Moudir (Morocco, Qatar)
The Tambour of Retribution – directed by Abdulaziz Al Shalahi (Saudi Arabia)
Their Algeria – directed by Lina Sweilem (France, Algeria, Switzerland, Qatar)
Under The Concrete – directed by Roy Arida (France, Lebanon)
We Are From There – directed by Wissam Tanios (Lebanon)
Short film competition
A Handful of Dates – directed by Hashim Hassan (Sudan)
Aicha – directed by Zakaria Nouri (Morocco)
Amygdala – directed by Dana Abdessamad (Lebanon)
An Evening with Laila – directed by Haya Alghanim (Kuwait)
The Bath – directed by Anissa Daoud (Tunisia)
The Black Veil – directed by A J Al Thani (Qatar)
Hayat – directed by Mirvet Medini Kammoun (Tunisia)
Hemingway – directed by Ghaith and Laith Al Adwan (Jordan)
I am Afraid to Forget Your Face – directed by Sameh Alaa (Egypt, France, Qatar, Belgium)
The Other Cheek – directed by Sandro Canaan (Egypt)
The Present – directed by Farah Nabulsi (Palestine)
Roadblock – directed by Dahlia Nemlich (Lebanon)
Al Sit – directed by Suzannah Mirghani (Sudan)
Sunday at Five – directed by Sherif Sherif El Bendary (Egypt)
Tapes Began Decaying – directed by Reeda Fneiche (Lebanon)
The Tower of Silence – directed by Mohamed Aouad (Morocco)
Tuk Tuk – directed by Mohamed Kheidr (Egypt)
More information is at maffswe.com