On the Bicycle

Source: Courtesy of Aflamuna Connection

‘On the Bicycle’

EXCLUSIVE: Arab co-production platform Aflamuna Connection has unveiled 18 feature projects from emerging filmmakers that will be showcased at its ninth edition.

The projects span fiction, documentary, docu-fiction and animation and comprise 13 titles in development and five in post-production, hailing from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia.

Titles include My Name Is Khalil, a documentary by Palestinian filmmaker Bilal Al Khatib, which follows Khalil Albatran, a Palestinian theatre director exploring social issues through artistic expression. Al Khatib’s short Palestine 87 played at Clermont-Ferrand in 2023 and won Carthage’s Golden Tanit for best short film.

Iraqi documentary Childhood In The Mist by Warman Saeed and Edris Abdi tells the story of a 12-year-old Kurdish Yazidi boy who – after surviving recruitment by Isis - wants to search for his mother despite his uncle’s plans for asylum in Europe. Last year, the project received a $5,000 grant from Canada’s Altercine Foundation.

Karim Kassem’s docu-fiction project Pipes has been selected for work-in-progress. His previous film, Moondove, was selection for the inaugural Aflamuna Connection selection, and went on to premiere at Spain’s Mostra De Valencia 2024, winning the jury prize and best cinematography award.

Work-in-progress projects also include Amir El-Shenawy’s documentary American Dream: The Return Of Captain Kabonga, an Egypt-Saudi co-production. It follows three amateur wrestlers from Ismailia and their veteran coach as they pursue their dream of creating Egypt’s version of WWE against the backdrop of the country’s economic crisis.

Noting the large number of documentaries in the selection, Aflamuna Connection manager Myriam Sassine said: “Many Arab filmmakers are turning to documentary as a way to archive, witness, and reflect on unfolding events.”

Award-winning films previously chosen for the platform include The Brink Of Dreams by Egypt’s Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir, winner of Cannes’ Golden Eye for best documentary in 2024, and Dead Dog by Sarah Francis, which played at Rotterdam earlier this year.

The forum, formerly known as Beirut Cinema Platform, will run online from September 8-14 and will include masterclasses and consultations on scriptwriting, production and distribution. along with one-on-one meetings with more than 90 international film professionals, sales agents, and programmers.

Selected projects will compete for a $9,200 (€8,000) cash prize offered by France’s CNC, a $5,000 cash prize from ART, and additional awards from Rotterdam’s Producer’s Lab, DB Studios - Beirut for foley and sound mix, and the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE).

Seven of the 18 selected projects will travel to France for the Aflamuna X Cinemed Professional Encounters at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival (Cinemed), where they will pitch to potential French and European partners.

This year’s Aflamuna Connection has been pushed from April to September to more closely align with Cinemed, which runs October 17-25. “The aim is to create a direct bridge to the Aflamuna X Cinemed Professional Encounters,” said Sassine. “It’s an opportunity for filmmakers to attend the festival, pitch their projects in Europe and build partnerships.”

In parallel, Aflamuna is also supporting a new initiative launched by Baghdad Film Institute, titled Baghdad Film Connection, which is set to take place online on September 26 -27. Backed by the French Institute in Baghdad, 1001 and Katara Studios, the initiative aims to connect Iraqi feature film projects with global industry professionals. “Aflamuna helped shape the concept by providing insight into the programme, allowing Baghdad Film Institute to adapt the same model”, said Sassine.

Aflamuna Connection 2025 projects

In Development

Assouf (Alg-Nig)
Dir. Celia Boussebaa

Childhood In The Mist (Iraq)
Dir. Warman Saeed, Edris Abdi

Adieu Alep (Syr-Fr)
Dir. Hanna Karim

Open Heart (Tun)
Dir. Hamza Bel Hadj

Recordanza (Ger-Syr-Saudi)
Dir. Jalal Maghout

The Man Who’s Gone (Egy)
Dir. Naji Ismail

The Palm Grove Testimony (Mor)
Dir. Rim Mejdi

Back-To-Back With Orpheus (Leb-Lux)
Dir. Danielle Davie

Four Fingers (Iraq)
Dir. Yahya Al-Allaq

It’s Okay, I Am Only Human (Leb-Fr)
Dirs. Karim Ghorayeb, George Peter Barbari

Minus 40 (Pal-Fr-It)
Dir. Waseem Khair

My Name Is Khalil (Pal-Leb-Fr)
Dir. Bilal AlKhatib

Through Thick And Thin (Jor)
Dir. Abedalsalam Alhaj

Works In Progress

American Dream: The Return Of Captain Kabonga (Egy-Saudi)
Dir. Amir El-Shenawy

I Am One Of Them (Pol-Qat-Saudi)
Dir. Nadim Suleiman

On The Bicycle (Egy-Sp)
Dir. Amal Ramsis 

Pipes (Leb)
Dir. Karim Kassem 

The Colour Of Our Time (Iraq-Egy-Bel)
Dir. Hayder Helo