Taking place from 15 to 24 November 2024, Sharjah Film Platform 7 (SFP7) will take place at the Mirage City Cinema, the open-air theatre in Sharjah’s historical quarter, and VOX Cinemas, City Centre Al Zahia.
Vying for the Sharjah Film Platform Awards, this year’s Competition section features a diverse selection of films from different parts of the world, including Myanmar, Bhutan, Rwanda, Nigeria, Colombia, Bahrain and Palestine. An international jury comprising of industry professionals will select the award-winning films in four categories: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Fiction Feature and Fiction Short.
The 10-day festival starts with Kamal Aljafari’s documentary A Fidai Film (2024) which seeks to reclaim the looted memories of Palestinian history through archival footage. Other highlights include: Places of the Soul (2023) by Hamida Issa, which follows an environmental expedition to Antarctica while juxtaposing its icy landscape with the deserts of Qatar, the filmmaker’s home country; Pham Ngoc Lan’s
fiction film Cu li không bao gió khóc (Cu Li Never Cries) (2024), a black and white film interweaving personal and political histories in current day Vietnam; and The Great Yawn of History (2024) by Iranian filmmaker Aliyar Rasti, a story about a middle-aged religious man who goes on a quest for hidden treasure.
Among the roster of films are two supported by Sharjah Art Foundation: Upshot (2024), directed by Maha Haj, tells the story of a solitary couple and the aftermath of their painful past, and From Ground Zero (2024), an anthology of 22 short films by filmmakers from Gaza, which will conclude this year’s edition of the film festival.
Director in Focus Section This year’s Director in Focus section spotlights the work of auteur Mohamad Malas, renowned for his moving films chronicling the modern history of Syria and its neighbouring countries. Along with the screening of The Dream (1987), The Night (1992) and the global premiere of his latest film Oh Father, I Am Youssef (2024), Malas will offer a masterclass on the role of storytelling in cinema.
Presented in parallel with the film screenings, a series of public programmes provides opportunities for learning and gathering. This year’s lineup focuses on notions of modernity in African and Asian film, cinema as resistance and resilience from Palestine and beyond, as well as innovations in documentary filmmaking.
To see the full list of Sharjah Film Platform 7 screenings and talks, and to book tickets, visit sharjahart.org.
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