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29 Jan – 8 Feb 2026
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  • harb al-halig…wa ba’da – The gulf war … and after

harb al-halig…wa ba’da – The gulf war … and after

Combined programme | IFFR 1992

During the last Rotterdam Film Festival it was decided that a series of films should be made providing a different non-Western look at the Gulf War. A year ago the war was raging and completely overshadowed the festival.Eight film-makers (Algerian, Egyptian, Lebanese, Moroccan, Palestinian, Syrian and Tunisian) cooperated on the project. Five of them have now completed their contributions and these will be screened at the festival.The film-makers were given a free hand, but were asked to limit their contribution to ten or fifteen minutes in length. The different sketches provide as many different views and emotions. The makers were witnesses to a war which has brought about much definitive change and each film-maker has incorporated this realisation in their own way. They stress that their films are not Manichaean and certainly not propaganda. In the face of the months of overfeeding by the western media they simply pose their Arab images and feelings; different personal views of the world.The three parts not completed are: Suspect by Omar Amiralay, Shiva’s Eye by Farouk Belloufa and Underway by Oussama Mohamed. In consultation with Elia Suleiman, his contribution Homage by Assassination was included in the Cinema Narcissus programme.

In this combined programme

  • Fil al laylato ed dhalmaa

    Mounir is a film-maker. He is sitting in his living room glued to the television. It continuously shows pictures of the Gulf War. A shot…

  • Fi al bahti ‘an Shaïma

    The film opens with the famous words of Martin Luther King: ‘I have a dream, that one day, this nation will know its creed.’ The…

  • Sekatat sherazade an el kalam el mubah

    A family gathering in Tunis during Ramadan, just before the end of the fast. The relatives prepare for their first meal. They gather round the…

  • The silence

    A film and theatre production group is working on a play based on interviews with women working in nightclubs. During the preparations the group members…

  • Hommage by assassination