The suffering of Arab film festivals in Europe

The French Muslim woman Somaya used to take off her hijab before entering her work, as she works as an official in an airport transport company in the French capital, Paris, and after she leaves the workplace, she wears it again. After 14 years in her job, she was surprised by a letter stating her dismissal. Stunned, she tells the official who handed her the decision that she has not received a single warning in these years, to which the official replies indifferently: "She has changed." Later, she discovers through the media accusations that she is linked to terrorist circles, turning her life upside down, and waging a legal struggle to prove her right to the events of the French film "Somaya" directed by Waheed Khan and Obeida Abu Asid, which was produced in 2019.

The film shows the suffering of Muslim women, men and children with the application of terrorism laws in France, following the Paris attacks in 2015. It is inspired by real events, according to the film's directors, who met in their first meeting at the Mukhtar Film Festival in Paris, which specializes in Arab and Islamic issues. A few years ago in London, a number of the festival's founders visited me and told me that they had established it as a kind of artistic response to the repeated abuse in the European media of our master Muhammad (peace be upon him), and therefore they called him "the chosen one".

The festival first specialized in short films, and its organizers were second-generation Arab and Muslim immigrants in France, and then its activities slowly subsided, like many film festivals of this type in Europe. When I met them, I asked the founders about the methods of financing, and they said that they toured a number of Arab and Muslim businessmen in France as well as halal shops and restaurants to convince them of their social responsibility towards this type of project, and they have already succeeded in securing funding in the early years. In recent years, I have found little activity for the festival, which is likely to have declined or stopped.

The festival is proud to have provided a fertile environment for talented directors such as Khan and Abu Usayd to develop together the idea for Sumaya. Dr. Imane Foal, from Mohamed Siddiq Ben Yahia University in Jijel, Algeria, conducted a critical study of the film in which she concluded important points, including that the film succeeded in capturing the conflict and controversy between Muslim characters in France in a way that breaks one of the stereotypes, which is that Muslims are one homogeneous mass, which is one of the founding myths of Islamophobia. It also showed an important aspect of racism that goes beyond condemned individual actions to the institutional racism inherent in the behavior of the French state apparatus, and the details of the legal and judicial struggle to combat this behavior.

Festivals that have achieved success

The fading of the Mukhtar Film Festival has prevented the emergence of similar ideas such as Somaya. These are probably European capitals where Arab film festivals have little success, such as Paris, London, and other capitals. The reason is the increased financial burden on these trials and the lack of adequate support. This situation is different from the experiences of Arab film festivals in smaller cities, especially if they have an Arab and Muslim community, such as the Arab Film Festival in Zurich, Switzerland, which has been held every two years since 2012. Unlike many other Arab film festivals, it struck me that it is based on a partnership with the Podium Zurich Film Foundation.

There are also several festivals that have proven their presence and spread on the film and public levels. It is perhaps the exception that proves the rule. They are undoubtedly experiments that deserve to be celebrated and recognized, and most importantly, their success factors are monitored to evaluate this experience in the broader European context. One of these festivals is the Malmö Arab Film Festival in Sweden, which the festival describes as the largest festival specialized in Arab cinema outside the Arab world, which began in 2011 and is one of the largest festivals in southern Sweden.

The first thing that draws attention about the success of the Malmö Festival in Sweden is that it has built bridges not only with the Arab world and its issues, but also with Swedish local institutions. The founder and director of the festival, director Mohamed Qiblawi, recently received the Malmö City Award in the 2023 Creativity category, which was awarded to the festival. In general, European local councils are elected bodies with broad administrative and economic powers that include significant cultural, educational and service aspects. It is not separate from the central government in general, but there is a great deal of decentralization that allows it to support and encourage such initiatives.

Secondly, this project is constantly developing professionally and attractively. In addition to the annual festival, it includes other screenings throughout the year and a forum to encourage co-production between Sweden and the Arab world, where filmmakers, financiers and distribution companies meet. It is the case of major cultural projects that have a clear strategic plan and take advantage of all available possibilities.

Some of the elements of the success of the Malmö Festival are similar to the Rotterdam Arab Film Festival in the Netherlands, where the Municipality of the Netherlands supports the festival in terms of screening halls and some other services. I remember that when I visited Rotterdam a few years ago, I first saw a huge poster with the festival logo and name in Arabic and Dutch next to the city's main train station with details of the festival program. The way the posters were displayed made the visitor feel like he was facing a big event in this small city that contains one of the most important ports in the world. Over the past years, the festival has succeeded in attracting a number of Arab film stars, which has placed it in the center of attention even though it has not developed as an institution or in terms of funding.