Feature: Elbow

MENA Film Festival kicks off #MENA2025 with the celebrated MENA Opening Ceremony! Join us on Saturday, January 25 starting at 3:00 PM for an afternoon of food, music and a movie or two!

How can artists help challenge western power structures and representation of the region? How can artists survive and support the community and themselves in an economy that consistently repeals resources and censors us?

Vancouver-based musician, composer, and ethnomusicologist Aram Bajakian in discussion with Eritrean-Ethiopian trumpet player Feven Kidane, Tezeta’s director, Aramazt Kalayjian, and artist scholars Parmela Attariwala and Nadia Shihab.

This expanded session is a chance to both hear about each funder's programs and requirements, as well as to share your work and ask specific questions to each body about their programs in an informal one-on-one format.

Prescreening talk with Parsa Alirezai from the SFU Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies.

A discussion on the intersection of Blackness and MENA/SWANA identity. Panelists with backgrounds from across the region discuss how anti-Black racism leads to the exclusion and erasure of Black identities and histories in the MENA/SWANA region.

The 2025 Marketing and Distribution Workshop guides emerging and mid-career filmmakers, film producers and others through advanced marketing and distribution skills, to effectively promote their films and reach wider audiences.

Celebrate the End of the 2025 MENA Film Festival with us! Join us for an unforgettable night featuring four live performances by boundary-pushing, experimental and alternative from diasporic MENA/SWANA musical artists.