ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema

07/30/2026

It was so heartwarming to be back at the Jacob Burns Film Center for a wonderful week of ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema.
A heartfelt thank you to the incredible Burns team for their support, to the talented filmmakers who stayed up late or traveled to share their work and conversations with our audiences, and to everyone who came out to celebrate these remarkable films. It was especially lovely to reconnect with so many familiar faces who told us how much they had missed the series, while also welcoming new audience members discovering ANA for the very first time.
Until next year… here are a few moments from our week at the Burns

MBC Shahid
Lina Matta
ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU

07/30/2026

ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema closed off our best run ever BAM Rose Cinemas on July 23rd with Cyril Ari’s’ “A Sad and Beautiful World” followed by drinks at a neighborhood Brooklyn bar. What a fantastic run! Thank you family, old friends and new who came to join us! See you same time next year.
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU
MBC Shahid
Lina Matta

07/28/2026

CLOSING NIGHT! TODAY! 7PM!! 1967. EGYPT HAS JUST BEEN CRUSHED IN THE SIX-DAY WAR. UMM KULTHUM — SICK, AGING, EXHAUSTED — AGREES TO TAKE THE STAGE ONE LAST TIME.

El Sett moves between her final concert and seven decades of memory: the girl from the Delta who broke every rule, loved and lost, and became the voice of an entire people. The highest-grossing film in Egyptian cinema history.

stars as Umm Kulthum, with , .official, , and .

Dir.

· CLOSING NIGHT · Tuesday July 28 · 7:00 PM

Tickets: link in bio

Curated by with support of and and of and

07/27/2026

TODAY! 7PM!! IRAQ, EARLY 1990S. NINE-YEAR-OLD LAMIA'S SCHOOL PICKS HER TO BAKE A BIRTHDAY CAKE — FOR SADDAM HUSSEIN.

She lives with her grandmother in the Mesopotamian Marshes and has a rooster named Hindi. A film of heartbreaking delicacy.

"Critic's Pick." — Variety

Caméra d'Or + Audience Award, Cannes 2025 · Jury Prize for Best Film, São Paulo International Film Festival

Dir. Hasan Hadi | .presidents.cake

· TODAY · Monday July 27 · 7:00 PM

Tickets: link in bio

Curated by with support of and and of and

07/26/2026

Arab News wrote an article about the Saudi movie A Matter of Life & Death screening in NY at BAM and the Jacob Burns Film Center as part of ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema
Jacob Burns Film Center
BAM Rose Cinemas
Lina Matta
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU

DUBAI: Saudi dark comedy “A Matter of Life and Death” screened in New York on Saturday, after showing in two Scandinavian locations earlier this year. Starring Saudi actor Sarah Taibah and directed by Anas Ba-Tahaf, the film screened at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York. It ...

07/24/2026

After years of being gone from the Jacob Burns Film Center we were welcomed back on July 22, 2026 with the warmest of welcomes and a sold out screening for Cyril Aris’ film “A Sad and Beautiful World”.
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU MBC Shahid Lina Matta

07/24/2026

"WHAT'S ON YOUR HEART?"

Bouchra is a Moroccan artist living in New York. Her mother Aicha lives in Casablanca and mostly doesn't pick up. Built from real phone calls between the two women — and rendered in 3D animation. Morocco's first animated feature.

NYFF 63 · TIFF Platform · Presented by Fondazione Prada

Dir. &

· TONIGHT · Friday July 24 · 7:00 PM

Tickets: link in bio

Curated by with support of and and of and

Bouchra:

07/24/2026

TODAY! 4PM!! THREE GENERATIONS OF WOMEN SET OUT FROM TAIF TO MECCA FOR HAJJ. THEN THE ELDEST VANISHES.

What begins as a pilgrimage becomes a search across the length of Saudi Arabia — through landscapes most films never show. A road movie seen entirely through female eyes.

Saudi Arabia's Oscar entry. Venice Biennale 82 · Carthage Film Festival

Dir. | | Producer: .jbara.aldarraji

· TODAY · Friday July 24 · 4:00 PM

Tickets: link in bio

Curated by with support of and and of and

07/23/2026

Day 6, Thunderstorm warnings could not stop determined New Yorkers from filling up the theater for the inter-generational Saudi roadtrip Hijra
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU MBC Shahid BAM Rose Cinemas Lina Matta

07/22/2026

TONIGHT! FIVE YEARS OLD. ALONE IN A CAR IN GAZA. HER FAMILY HAD BEEN KILLED. SHE CALLED FOR HELP. THE CALL LASTED 70 MINUTES.
Kaouther Ben Hania made a film in real time out of what happened on that call. Grand Jury Prize at Venice 2025. A 23-minute standing ovation — the longest in festival history.
This is not an easy film. It is a necessary one.
Dir. | |
· Wednesday July 22 · 7:00 PM
· Thursday July 23 · 4:00 PM
Tickets: link in bio
Curated by with support of and and of and