We’ll be back in 2027!

A message to all our SAFAR Film Festival community, supporters and followers:

You may have noticed that we have been a little quieter than usual for this time of the year.

In 2025, SAFAR Film Festival celebrated its 10th edition and welcomed over 6,000 film lovers both in cinemas and online. Since we launched in 2012, we have grown from a small weekend festival in one venue to running across 10 cities and 15 venues UK wide, screening more than 250 films over the years!

SAFAR is run by The Arab British Centre, a charity founded in 1977 to further understanding of the Arab world in the UK. As we approach our 50th anniversary in 2027, we are taking stock and developing our strategy for the next decade to ensure our programmes respond meaningfully to the needs of our audiences and artistic community.

With this in mind, we have taken the decision to not run the festival in 2026, to allow us the time and space to do the work behind the scenes and return in 2027 with a bold, thoughtful and ambitious festival.

While the festival takes a year out, we will remain active – sharing updates, stories and film events through our newsletter and social media channels. If you aren’t already following us or signed up to our mailing list, now is a great time to do so.

If you would like to stay up to date, sign up to our newsletter below and follow us on Instagram.

In the meantime if you want to get in touch, please reach out to our Programme Director on amani@arabbritishcentre.org.uk.

We look forward to seeing you in cinemas in 2027!