Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual festival of independent and experimental filmmaking returns for its seventh edition this year. Taking place from 15 to 24 November 2024, Sharjah Film Platform 7 continues to present transformative, compelling and category-defying films to communities in Sharjah and beyond.

The Competition section includes documentary and fiction films, all UAE premieres that have been nominated by an international committee of filmmakers and industry professionals. Vying for the Sharjah Film Platform Awards, this year’s selection features a wide range of films from different parts of the world, including Myanmar, Bhutan, Rwanda, Nigeria, Colombia, Bahrain and Palestine. Film screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the participating directors. The Director in Focus segment honours regional directors for their lifetime achievements in global cinema. This year, SFP7 presents the work of auteur Mohamad Malas, renowned for his moving films chronicling the modern history of Syria and its neighbouring countries. Along with the screening of The Dream (1987), The Night (1992) and his latest, Oh Father, I Am Youssef  (2024), Malas will offer a masterclass on the role of storytelling in cinema.

Presented in parallel with the film screenings, a series of public programmes provides opportunities for learning and gathering. This year focuses on notions of modernity in new African and Asian film, cinema as resistance and resilience from Palestine and beyond, and innovations in documentary filmmaking, among other topics. 

Also part of this year’s SFP is the Sharjah Film Platform Feature Fund (formerly Pitching Forum), which will award 500,000 AED to one UAE-based scriptwriter, director or lead/executive producer for the completion of an English- or Arabic-language narrative feature currently under production.

SFP7 takes place in Mirage City Cinema, the open-air theatre in Sharjah’s historical quarter, and VOX Cinemas, City Centre Al Zahia.

Organised by Sharjah Art Foundation, SFP7 has been made possible with the generous support of the UAE Ministry of Culture, Sharjah Media City Free Zone (Shams), VOX Cinemas and Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation.

To explore the full programme please click HERE.