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Tales Of Syria’s Disappeared; Lebanese Wartime Adoption & Palestinian Mental Health Set For Cinemed-Aflamuna Project Incubator
The Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival and Beirut-based Aflamuna have selected seven Arab film projects for their fifth joint incubator, to be held during Cinemed in October. The programme highlights stories involving Syria’s disappeared, Palestinian mental health and family trauma, while helping filmmakers connect with European producers, institutions and potential partners.
Among the projects is Anas Zawahri’s documentary *Disappeared*, following five Syrian women searching for relatives forcibly disappeared under Bashar al-Assad’s regime; at least 177,000 people are reported missing since 2011. Other selections include Wisam Al Jafari’s debut feature *The Hearse to the Final House of Happiness*, about a mental-health patient attending a family wedding, alongside projects from Egypt, Somalia, Djibouti and elsewhere; participants will attend Cinemed’s professional days from 20 to 22 October.
In short
- Seven Arab film projects selected for Cinemed-Aflamuna’s 2026 incubator.
- *Disappeared* examines Syria’s forcibly missing people.
- Filmmakers will meet European industry professionals in October.
Explained simply
Syria’s war began in 2011, and thousands of people have since been forcibly detained or gone missing. Their families, including women who lead searches for relatives, often lack reliable information about what happened to them.
The projects also touch on mental health and family trauma among Palestinians and other communities. Cinemed is a film festival in Montpellier, while Aflamuna is a Beirut-based organisation that supports Arab filmmakers; their incubator connects selected filmmakers with producers and other potential partners.
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