Middle East Now 2024

In Florence, a week of immersion in Middle Eastern culture through film, art and music from 15 to October

Middle East Now festival celebrates its 15th edition in Florence from 15 to 20 October, at Cinema La Compagnia, Cinema Astra, Rifugio Digitale and other city venues, with a multifaceted programme of events, including cinema, documentaries, art, exhibitions, food, meetings and cultural projects in the broadest sense. The festival - which is part of the 50 Days of Cinema in Florence programme - has always been characterised by a strong focus on current affairs, on the story of the newest and most vibrant phenomena of contemporary Middle Eastern cultures and societies, at a time like the present in which the Middle East is dramatically more than ever at the centre of attention.

Last party in R. Desert

The theme of this year's festival is Ecologies of Resistance and, through the film programme, exhibitions and talks, this edition will reflect on these crucial aspects of the current state of crisis, characterised by climate change and ecological devastation together with the drama of war, and will invite a reaction of resistance and solidarity with the affected populations.

There are 34 premiere films (including 15 short films, 12 Italian premieres, 5 European and international premieres), awarded at the best international festivals. Strong stories, characters, the hot topics of current affairs in the most recent titles from the Middle East and North Africa, from the vast area from Morocco to Afghanistan. A programme that will introduce audiences to the cultures and societies of these countries, with a perspective that aims to go beyond prejudices and clichés. A 15th edition with many special screenings, featuring the more than 30 directors and guests invited to Florence to present films and discuss them with the audience in the auditorium, and a selection of films online in the Più Compagnia virtual theatre in collaboration with MyMovies.

THE GREAT YAWN OF HISTORY

Opening film from Lebanon, Tuesday 15 October, will be Diaries from Lebanon by Myriam El Hajj. Palestine will have an important focus, to delve into a political, social and human context dramatically affected by war and devastation. Among the titles on the programme: No Other Land by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor; the feature film To a Land Unknown by Mahdi Fleifel; Janine, Jenin by the famous Palestinian director and actor Mohammad Bakri; From Ground Zero gives voice to the Gaza Strip in a collective film of twenty-two episodes. From Saudi Arabia, the premiere of Last Party in R. Desert, the latest film by the pioneer director of Saudi cinema Mahmoud Sabbagh. And again the beautiful documentary My Stolen Planet by Faranhaz Sharifi. Among the films on Afghanistan comes to Florence Hollywoodgate (Germany, USA, Afghanistan, 2023, 93'), an award-winning documentary by director Ibrahim Nash'at. From Yemen the feature film The Burdened by Amr Gamal.

Special events and projects on the programme include the exhibition AIR, RIVER, SEA SOIL. A history of an exploited land curated by Roi Saade, in which six photographers and artists tell the story of how colonial domination, past and present, and the exploitation of the environment have transformed the Middle East and North Africa, from 17 October to 3 November at Rifugio Digitale; special guest HAMED SINNO Lebanese-American musician and former leader of the cult band Mashrou Leila, who has always been an activist for freedom of speech and sexual freedom, with his performance ‘Poems of Consumption’; GAZA KITCHEN. Recipes from a Suspended Kitchen, a special event-workshop dedicated to Gaza's culinary tradition at the Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Art.

For the full program and to purchase tickets, click here.