AFLAMUNA x Cinemed Encounters 2026 <Brings Seven Arab Feature Projects to Montpellier
We are pleased to announce that the fifth edition of AFLAMUNA x Cinemed Encounters took place in Montpellier on 20 October 2026, during Cinemed Meetings, part of the 48th Cinemed, Festival International du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Montpellier (16 to 24 October).
The project gives emerging Arab filmmakers and producers a place to meet decision-makers and build co-productions and collaborations.
- A Tale of a Feather and a Fish (fiction) by Ahmed El-Hawarey, produced by Hala Lotfy, Hassala Films, Egypt
- Accept My Plea for a Burial (fiction) by Mohammed Sheikh, produced by Kadir Harbi, Aleel Films, Somalia and Djibouti
- Disappeared (documentary) by Anas Zawahri, produced by Ahmad Alhaj, Wind Cinéma, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and France
- I Have Other Friends (documentary) by Yomna Khattab, produced by Muhammad Taymour, Chaos Films, Egypt
- The Hearse to the Final House of Happiness (fiction) by Wisam Al Jafari, produced by Hanna Attallah, Route 243, Palestine
- The Space I Carry (documentary) by Elise Pouchelet (Rita Zahi), with Josef Khallouf as co-filmmaker and producer, The FilmMonk, Lebanon and France
- Twelve Fig Leaves (documentary) by Joëlle Abou Chabké, produced by Lara Abu Seifan, Placeless Films, Lebanon
Roundtable: What does it mean to be independent in Egyptian cinema today?
Alongside the presentations, a roundtable on independent cinema in Egypt was held on October 21st.
Egypt remains the leading producer of Arab cinema, both commercial and independent. Over the past twenty years, a generation of filmmakers and producers there found another way to produce and tell stories, outside established circuits, and a new wave of young filmmakers has since joined that lineage. Their films win awards and travel through the world’s major festivals, yet remain largely absent from Egyptian and Arab screens and barely accessible to the audience they should reach first.
The panelists looked back on twenty years of practice and asked how this cinema has held on, what has been done, and what remains to be done.
They also discussed the emerging generation of Egyptian filmmakers and how they deal with limited funding, international festivals, reaching national audiences, and access to film. One question framed the conversation: what does it mean to be independent in Egypt today, independent from whom, from what, and at what cost?
The panelists were Yomna Khattab (I Have Other Friends), Mayye Zayed (Lift Like a Girl), Muhammad Hamdy (Perfumed with Mint), Abdelwahab Shawky (Songs from the City of the Dead), Kesmat El Sayed, Mohammed El Hadidi, and Yasser El Shafi3i.
AFLAMUNA x Cinemed Encounters is organized by AFLAMUNA France in partnership with Cinemed, and supported by the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée)