EXCLUSIVE: France’s Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival, also known as Cinemed, and Beirut-based Arab cinema platform Aflamuna have unveiled the seven projects selected for its 4th project incubator event supporting independent filmmakers from across the Middle East and Africa.
They include Palestinian West Bank director’s Bilal Alkhatib documentary My Name Is Khalil, a portrait of a young actor and filmmaker’s search for identity, having been named after a brother who died in the first Intifada.
Syria also features strongly in the selection with Jalal Maghout’s animation Recordanza, about a young Syrian writer seeking a fresh start in Berlin, and Hanna Karim’s documentary Adieu Alep, following a filmmaker’s attempt to reconnect with his native city of Aleppo after many years away.
The program, which is supported by France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC), takes place within the framework of Cinemed, running from October 17 to 25 this year, and gives the producers and directors of the selected projects an opportunity to meet French and international professionals and decision-makers for talks on co-production and collaboration.
The initiative is open to filmmakers from 22 Arab countries, spanning Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE and Yemen.
Aflamuna is a nonprofit organization focused on nurturing independent Arab cinema in such a way that also intersects with contemporary social, political, and cultural developments. It was originally established as a cooperative under the name of Beirut DC in 1999 by a group of Lebanese filmmakers and cultural organizers.
The full 2025 selection:
Assouf (Algeria) – documentaryDir. Celia BoussebaaProd. Tatenda Francis Jamera (Maona)Logline: A young Tamasheq woman’s journey into the music industry parallels the story of legendary queen Tin Hinan to uncover the forgotten roots of Tichoumaren, and reclaim their people’s stolen heritage.
Adieu Alep (Syria) – documentaryDir. de Hanna KarimLogline: After a decade in exile, a Syrian filmmaker returns to Aleppo on the brink of regime collapse. Hoping to reconnect with his estranged father, he’s pulled into a vanishing world, the Christian minority community he left behind. Between personal wounds and political upheaval, he is faced with the question: is it possible to belong again?
Back To Back With Orpheus (Lebanon) – documentaryDir. Danielle Davie.Prod. Hélène Walland (Poulpe Bleu Production)Logline: May and Michael recount how they met in Beirut, tracing the city’s layered history through words and maps. Meanwhile, 200 kilometers away in the Syrian desert, a Bedouin family shares their daily life with Danielle, an intimate archive of a disappearing world. Like Orpheus, Danielle looks back one final time in the orchard of her family home.
The Man Who’s Gone (Egypt) – fictionDir. Naji IsmailProd. Omar Manjouneh (Rahala Production & Distribution)Logline: On her deathbed, a mother in Upper Egypt asks her only son, drifting aimlessly in the capital, to return and bid her farewell. She makes one final, simple request: a box of candy and a scarf to be wrapped in. To fulfill her wish, the young man embarks on an epic journey, where he discovers mysteries about the world and himself.
My Name Is Khalil (Palestine, Lebanon) – documentaryDir. Bilal AlkhatibProd. Tania El Khoury (Les Films de l’Altaï)Logline: The film follows Khalil Albatran, named after his martyred brother during the First Palestinian Intifada. Seen by his family as a continuation of the late Khalil, he grapples with forging his own identity. Through dance and music, Khalil channels his inner conflict and strives to break free from the burden of a name steeped in memory, grief, and expectation.
The Palm Grove Testimony (Morocco)Dir/Prod. Rim Mejdi (Tifaw Films)Logline: As the filmmaker attempts to recount the tragic tale of her childhood palm grove’s demise, a mysterious voice from the future interrupts. This enigmatic presence reveals the oasis’s hidden fate in all its enigmatic and unadulterated glory, as though painting the secrets of its downfall.
Recordanza (Syria, Germany, Saudi Arabia) – animationDir. Jalal MaghoutProd. May Odeh, Zorana Mušikić (Mayana Films)Logline: Seeking a fresh beginning in Berlin, a young Syrian writer moves into an apartment, where the opening of a peculiar cabinet leads to the entanglement of different realities.
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