By Joseph Fahim

The success of “With Hasan in Gaza” in Locarno, where it was seen by thousands of people, has proven that there is a sizeable audience for films like Aljafari’s: an artistically and intellectually uncompromised cinema that rejects a digestible, ready-made message.

Gauri Mangala

The festival panel noticed a shift in this year’s collection of applications. While overall application numbers have dwindled, a larger proportion featured strong political themes and messages.

By Joseph Fahim

Criticism is imperative not only for understanding Arab culture, but for confronting the mediocrity that can arise from silencing critical perspectives.

By Elissa Odeh

Wahab still remembers his first stand-up show in Ferndale, Michigan: “They gave me five minutes, so I wrote three minutes of jokes and figured the other two would be filled with laughter,” he said. “Let’s just say it didn’t quite work out that way.”

By Ragad Ahmad

For nearly five decades, El Funoun has understood that keeping Palestinian tradition alive and building upon it constitutes a political act in a context where Palestinians’ very existence remains contested.

By Ben Bennett

Informed by her architectural training and her Sudanese heritage, Elnayal’s art envisions a different, personal kind of futurism in Sudan. And at Studio Black, she doesn’t just imagine what a better future for designers might be, she creates it.