Cinema Akil is hosting a three-night celebration of Emirati cinema starting tomorrow

Dubai: For three nights this week, Cinema Akil at Alserkal Avenue becomes a space for something quietly powerful: Emirati filmmakers telling Emirati stories, on their own terms.

Running from 19 to 21 May, Emirati Cinema Nights brings together a programme of ten films that span grief, identity, community, memory and the textures of everyday life in the UAE. The lineup is a reminder that local cinema here is not emerging, it has already arrived.

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The most anticipated screening is likely Baab, the second feature from Nayla Al Khaja, the UAE's first female screenwriter, director and producer along with music by A.R. Rahman. Set in the remote mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, the film follows a woman haunted by the loss of her twin sister, whose grief unravels into a surreal, sensory journey between memory and imagination. It made history as the first Emirati feature by a woman to premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival, and arrives here fresh off that milestone. 

Also screening are two films from Nujoom Alghanem, an award-winning poet and filmmaker considered a leading voice of her generation. Nearby Sky follows the first woman in the UAE to participate in a camel beauty contest, navigating a fiercely male-dominated world with quiet determination, while Sharp Tools is an intimate tribute to late Emirati conceptual artist Hassan Sharif, filmed during the final days of his life. Both films sit at the intersection of documentary and poetry, and both have won awards at major regional and international festivals. 

Rounding out the programme are Hoba (The Vile) by Majid Al Ansari, Heen (Then) by Saeed Rashed, Mother of Fog by Farah Al Qasimi, A Small Dream by Sara Al Haddad, Stillness and Haraka by Aswa Tomar, and Why is my grandfather's bed in the living room? by Sarah Malhashmi. Together they form a portrait of a filmmaking community that is getting bolder, more personal and more assured with every passing year.

Emirati Cinema Nights runs from 19 to 21 May at Cinema Akil, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai.