The 16th edition of Middle East Now ended in Florence with a strong turnout and a successful program, with many sold-out evenings brimming with emotion and discussion.
The festival, which opened the “50 Days of Cinema in Florence” program of events, took place from October 7th to 12th at Cinema La Compagnia, Cinema Astra, the SRISA Gallery, the Scuola D’Arte Culinaria Cordon Bleu, and other venues in the city. The festival’s strong focus on current events and the exploration of the cultural and social dynamics of the contemporary Middle East, a hallmark of the event, proved even more significant in this historical moment.
This year’s theme was Radical Imagination, a reflection on the radical power of images, which transformed the festival into a place of imagination, conjuring new visions of the contemporary world and dismantling old and distorted representations of this region.
Directors Roberto Ruta and Lisa Chiari invited us to listen. “Directors and artists have much to say about their lives, because they have the gift of reflecting deeply on reality and seeing things we don’t. This is why today, more than ever, it’s worth listening to them. This concept emerged forcefully in screenings, events, and discussions, and it pushed all of us and our large audience to reflect on possible alternatives and the future, even in the midst of destruction and conflict.”
The rich program — 34 films and documentaries presented, including Italian, European, and world premieres, with over 30 directors and guests in Florence — focused on Palestine, Iran, and Afghanistan, and explored the contemporary Middle East through cinema, art, food, theater, and live performances. A rich program of meetings and debates provided important opportunities to learn about and explore the current situation and complexity of these countries’cultures and societies.
Among the highlights moments:
The sold-out opening of the festival was the documentary “Yalla Parkour” by Areeb Zuaiter, a melancholic look at pre-war Gaza: young people leaping across rooftops and running in search of a difficult freedom. The contrast between the agility of their bodies and the destruction they move through became a powerful metaphor: freedom as a radical gesture, physical and symbolic resistance against the wall of war.
Among the sold-out days, Sunday, October 12th saw the theatrical performance THE HORSE OF JENIN, written and performed by Palestinian actor and comedian Alaa Shehada, for the first time in Italy. The solo performance received a standing ovation from an emotional and amused audience, despite the tragedy of the story of lives under occupation in Jenin.
The closing film was “Kabul Between Prayers” by Aboozar Amini, acclaimed at the Venice Film Festival. The Afghan director offered a personal journey through the desire for life and death, commenting: “My film is an attempt to understand the humanity that can still exist behind the radicality of choices.”
Meetings, debates, and exhibitions
The meetings were well attended, including the Festival Talk – Il Punto series at 7:30 pm. The final event addressed this year’s theme: “Imaginary Gaza, Imaginary Gaza, the Gaza we imagine”: a roundtable discussion that, starting from the dramatic reality of the Gaza Strip, explored possible visions of a once-vital territory.
The meeting with Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi, whose cuisine is an act of identity and resilience, was also a great success. Tamimi presented his new book, Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from My Palestine, and led a beautiful, intense, and well-attended cooking workshop at the Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts.
Finally, the exhibition “Beirut, Recurring Dream” by photographer Tanya Traboulsi, curated by Roï Saade, explores themes of belonging and identity through a dreamlike portrait of Beirut, a celebration of a resilient city, where she lived as a child and where she decided to return as an adult.
The exhibition is on view until October 29, 2025 at the SRISA Gallery, Via San Gallo 53/r
(Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10:00 am – 7:00 pm, Sat 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm, Sun 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm)
All the winning films of the 16th edition:
The 2025 Middle East Now Audience Award for Best Film, as voted by the public, went to “A Sad and Beautiful World” (Lebanon, United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, 2025, 110′), the debut feature film by Lebanese director Cyril Aris. A beautiful love story that intertwines the destinies of the two protagonists, Yasmina and Nino, with Lebanon’s historical cycles.
The 2025 Iran-Afghanistan Cinema Award – Felicetta Ferraro went to “Cutting Through Rocks” (Chile, Iran, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, United States, 2025, 95′) by Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki. The jury, composed of Mario Vitalone, Bianca Maria Filippini, and Germana Rivi: “For the authentic portrait of rural Iran through the powerful personal story of an Iranian woman who is unconventional, neither in terms of the dictates of the Islamic Republic nor the expectations of Western viewers. Here, gender issues take on new forms, intertwined with the institutions’ need to establish a new, more “acceptable” identity. Sara’s determination to be who she is is more shocking and moving than any slogan, opening the door to hope for gradual change, the fruit of small but effective, winning choices.”
Best Short – Staff Award 2025, awarded to the best short film by the festival staff, went to “Ya Hanouni” by Sofian Chouaib and Lyna Tadount (Algeria, 2024, 3′). “A three-minute short that powerfully impacts a scenario of ordinary life; So much so that it’s difficult to convey the feeling we felt when we saw our existence crumble in an instant, yet at the same time resisted in one simple word: “mom.”
A Special Mention goes to “One Day I Will Hug You” by Mohamed Fares Al Majdalawi, “for its ability to combine themes such as everyday life and family ties broken by occupation, explored in conjunction with the experience of the diaspora and the search for one’s origins through the protagonist’s relationship with her father.”
The Best OFF Award for Best Authorial Short Film, presented by the OFF Cinema association and the jury composed of Anacleto D’Agostino, Tina Magazzini, Théo Blanc, and Valentina Orsi, went to “One Day I Will Hug You” by Mohamed Fares Al Majdalawi (Palestine, Sweden, Qatar, 2025, 18 minutes). “For its intimate portrayal of the emotional distance between a father and the daughter born in his absence. A father grapples with the consequences of his political commitment to the liberation of Palestine and the twenty years he spent in prison. The film offers a delicate exploration of the father and daughter’s parallel narratives about the pain of absence.”2
The Special Mention went to “Happiness” by Fırat Yücel (Netherlands, Turkey, 2025, 18 min.), “a film that, in a nocturnal and sleepless digital diary, interprets the bewilderment of those who observe ‘from here,’ unable to respond to the ongoing horror they witness in real time. Through the eyes of activists and immigrants in Amsterdam, in a Europe perhaps only supposedly free and safe, a web of screens, chats, and notifications stages reality as it overflows, reflecting the disproportion between what we know and what we can do, suspending us between watching and living, between presence and estrangement…in a constant search for happiness.