Celebrate film, food, and music from the Middle East and North Africa in Prague this weekend

“We’re extremely happy to be back”, Edison Filmhub’s events manager Ryan Keating said as he unveiled the rich program of the Al Qamar Festival, a four-day-long fest of film, dance, crafts and music from the Middle East and North Africa.

After the success of its first edition held last year under the mystical light of the blue supermoon, Al Qamar (meaning moon in Arabic) is once more bringing, from Thursday, Aug. 29, to Sunday, Sept. 1, the exoticism of the Middle East and North Africa to the very center of Prague.

Organised in cooperation with Film Europe and the Madžlis Student Association, Edison Filmhub will be hosting screenings of about a dozen movies from the region. Blending crowd-pleasing classics and gripping contemporary films, its program will be accompanied by several post-screening discussions and debates with filmmakers, actors, and experts from the region. All movies are shown in their original language with English subtitles.

Highlights of this year’s edition include three premiere movies, notably the powerful The Seed of the Sacred Fig by award-winning director Mohammad Rasoulof, forced to flee Iran after being sentenced to eight years in prison in his home country. Winner of the Jury Special Prize at Cannes and Germany’s Oscar entry, this moving family drama looks at a once tight-knit family shattered by political turmoil, and includes heartrending real-life footage from the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests that erupted in Iran in 2022.

Egyptian filmmaker Abu Bakr Shawky’s Hajjan, a light-hearted camel-racing adventure set deep in the Saudi Arabian desert, and Mohamed Ben Attia’s Behind the Mountains, a father-and-son road movie across the mountains of Tunisia, are also headlining this year’s festival, which will additionally showcase earlier films from both directors.

Apart from new releases, Al Qamar will also treat movie-lovers to a curated selection of classics, from the can’t-miss, Oscar-winning A Separation (2011) by director Asghar Farhadi to anti-ISIS nose-thumbing musical Rebel (2022) or The Time that Remains (2009) by Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman, also known for the acclaimed Divine Intervention (2002) and It Must Be Heaven (2019).

“We pride ourselves at not just being a film festival, but an all-around celebration of the culture from this region”, explains Edison Filmhub’s Ryan Keating. No sooner said than done. Whether in-between screenings, or simply to get the full Al Qamar experience, Edison Filmhub will also host a rich accompanying cultural programme, including a traditional Dabke dance performance by local troupe Sahar and a photo exhibition by Palestinian photographer Fadi Thabet.

And like last year, the highlight of the festival will be the wonderful souk-style Moonlight Markets, held in front of Edison Filmhub every day (5 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and 3 to 10 p.m. on the weekend), offering perfumes, jewelry, ceramics and more from local specialty stores Krásy Orientu and Anar Persian Art, traditional henna painting, as well as mouth-watering Levantine food from the recently opened Aleb Kitchen and Bar.