Arab Film Festival Opens 30th Edition in San Francisco
The Bay Area Arab American Film Festival kicked off Thursday at the AMC Kabuki, with Mohamed Hefzy receiving the inaugural AFMI Luminary Award for Cultural Impact.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Cultural
The 30th Bay Area Arab American Film Festival opened Thursday at the AMC Kabuki in San Francisco. Mohamed Hefzy was named the first recipient of the AFMI Luminary Award for Cultural Impact.
Why it matters
The festival is described as the first and largest annual event for Arab cinema in the country, giving San Francisco audiences a concentrated showcase of Arab films and filmmakers. The new award recognizes an individual's contribution to cultural representation on screen.
The festival, now in its 30th edition, has been running since 1996, and the featured biopic subject Umm Kulthum ranks No. 61 on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest singers of all time. Attendance and the full number of screened films were not reported.
The players
Mohamed Hefzy
Egyptian-born filmmaker and first recipient of the AFMI Luminary Award for Cultural Impact, whose film El Sett is a biopic of the singer Umm Kulthum.
Marwan Hamed
Egyptian director of El Sett, the biopic of Umm Kulthum featured at the festival.
The details
Films are being screened at the AMC Kabuki, the Roxy and the Castro in San Francisco, with the outdoor screening of Spices and Lies by French-Algerian filmmaker Amine Adjina at the Proxy in Hayes Valley. The festival runs through Nov. 14 and closes with Danielle Arbid's Only Rebels Win at Oakland's Parkway Theater.
Timeline
1904: Umm Kulthum born in Tamay al-Zahayra, Egypt.
1996: Festival launched by a group of Arab women in the Bay Area.
Thursday: 30th festival opened at the AMC Kabuki in San Francisco.
Nov. 14: Festival concludes with Only Rebels Win at the Parkway Theater in Oakland.
Cultural Legacy
The festival's featured film El Sett revisits the life of Umm Kulthum, who Rolling Stone ranked No. 61 among its Greatest Singers of All Time. Bringing her story to a Bay Area audience places a regional film showcase alongside a canonical figure of Arab music.
Residents can attend screenings at the AMC Kabuki, the Roxy, the Castro, and the Proxy in Hayes Valley through Nov. 14. Tickets and showtimes for individual films are available through the festival's venues.
The takeaway
The festival's founders started it because they did not see themselves or their families on screen, and three decades later it remains the region's main showcase for Arab cinema. Attending a screening is a direct way to support that work.
What happens next
The festival continues through Nov. 14, with screenings at the Roxy, the Castro, and the Parkway Theater in Oakland.
Further reading
Explore more cultural coverage for context on films and arts events across the Bay Area.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Kqed.
