October 2, 2025

Middle East Now 2025

In Florence, a week of immersion in Middle Eastern culture through film, art and music from 7 to 12 October

Middle East Now returns with its 16th edition in Florence from October 7 to 12, at Cinema La Compagnia, Cinema Astra, Rifugio Digitale, and other venues throughout the city, with a multifaceted program of events including films, documentaries, art, exhibitions, food, meetings, and cultural projects in the broadest sense. The festival, which this year opens the 50 Days of Cinema in Florence, has always been characterized by a strong focus on current events and on recounting the newest and most vibrant phenomena in the cultures and societies of the contemporary Middle East, at a time when the Middle East is dramatically more than ever at the center of attention.

This year's theme, Radical Imagination, transforms the festival into a place of creative imagination, where new visions of the current world can be conceived, beyond war and injustice. With a focus on Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Libya, and Iraq.

34 titles in the program, winners at the best international festivals. Powerful stories, characters, and hot topics from the vast area stretching from Morocco to Afghanistan. A program that will introduce the public to the cultures and societies of these countries, with a perspective that aims to go beyond prejudices and clichés. Thanks also to the many special events and the participation of directors, artists, and guests invited to Florence — over 30 this year — to present the films and discuss them with the audience. And a selection of films online in the virtual theater in collaboration with MyMovies.

BEIRUT, RECURRING DREAM, the first solo exhibition in Italy by Lebanese photographer Tanya Traboulsi
Among the special events and projects scheduled, we would like to highlight the exhibition AIR, RIVER, SEA SOIL. A history of an exploited land curated by Roi Saade, in which six photographers and artists recount how colonial rule, past and present, and the exploitation of the environment have transformed the Middle East and North Africa, from October 17 to November 3 at Rifugio Digitale; special guest HAMED SINNO, Lebanese-American musician and former leader of the cult band Mashrou Leila, a long-time activist for freedom of speech and sexual freedom, with his performance ‘Poems of Consumption’; GAZA KITCHEN. Recipes from a suspended cuisine, a special event-workshop dedicated to the culinary traditions of Gaza at the Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts School.

For the first time in Italy, Middle East Now presents a solo theatrical performance written and performed by Palestinian actor and comedian Alaa Shehada. THE HORSE OF JENIN – Sunday, October 12, at 8:00 p.m. at Cinema La Compagnia – tells a universal story, that of a child growing up in Jenin who, like every child in the world, wants above all to play and have fun. The horse is an Arab symbol of freedom and often recurs in Alaa's life.

The festival then begins its journey into radical imagination with Mazen Kerbaj, a Lebanese comic book artist, illustrator, and performer of improvised music, who is one of the most powerful voices on the international cultural scene. Kerbaj opens the festival with SYNESTHESIA (Tuesday, October 7, at the opening, Cinema La Compagnia), an audiovisual performance, a graphic score created and performed in real time, in an engaging sensory flow, destined to dissolve at the end of the performance.

And then there is PenPalestine, a project launched in 2023 that consists of printing postcards designed by artists from around the world in solidarity with the Palestinian population of Gaza. The colorful PenPalestine postcards will be presented at the festival in a special installation at Cinema La Compagnia, and can be purchased to raise funds for medical organizations active in Gaza.

For the complete program and to purchase tickets, click here.