Sharjah Film Platform 9
Sharjah Art Foundationâs annual celebration of indie/experimental cinema returns for its ninth edition with a 10-day lineup of films (26 of them) plus talks and artist development programmes. Screenings and events will take place at Mirage City Cinema, SAFâs open-air theatre in Arts Square, with some showings at VOX Cinemas at City Centre Al Zahia.
Opening the festival is Letters (2025), an anthology of 17 short films by Josef Khallouf reflecting on Lebanonâs recent history. The programme also includes David Bimâs To the West, in Zapata (2025), which follows a Cuban crocodile hunterâs struggle to provide for his family; Azeem Rajulawallaâs More Punk Than Punk (2025), a portrait of a Pakistani punk artist whose music brings together personal expression and political concerns; Minimals in a Titanic World (2025) by Philbert AimĂ© Mbabazi, exploring an emerging friendship in the shadow of grief; and Hind Saeed Al Basti’s Alia & Meera (2026), a story of two best friends whose small lie uncovers a family secret.
The festival closes with Larissa Sansourâs highly rated recent feature, An Incomplete Drowning (2026), a contemplation on the fragility of objects and their capacity to hold history.
This edition also premieres two newly completed short films supported by the Sharjah Film Platform Short Film Production Grant. In I Broke a Vase (2026), Asim Abdulaziz explores the haunting legacy of a former journalist; Fatima Wardyâs White Musk (2026) looks at the tensions that arise when a child is compelled to parent their own parent.
Always central to SFP is the Competition section, showcasing documentary and fiction films released within the past two years. Nominated by an international committee of filmmakers and industry professionals, all titles here are being shown in the UAE for the first time; a number of screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the directors.
Films in the Competition section are eligible for the Sharjah Film Platform Awards across four categories: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Fiction Feature and Fiction Short.
The Director in Focus segment honours an iconic filmmaker through screenings of their landmark films. This year the accolade goes to Abderrahmane Sissako, whose poetic films explore themes of exile and memory across Africa; a selection of his films will be screened, among them Timbuktu (2014), Bamako (2006) and Black Tea (2024: still above). Sissako will share insights into his practice in a masterclass on 7 November.
The full programme is here; most feature tickets are a bargain AED 15, some screenings are free.
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