19/03/2026 - The political romcom by Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat is opening the 35th edition of the African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival, which will run from 20 to 29 March

No Good Men [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat, which opened the most recent Berlinale, is also set to open the 35th edition of the African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival (FESCAAAL), which will run from 20 to 29 March in Milan. The protagonist of this “political romcom” – a co-production between Germany, France, Norway, Denmark and Afghanistan, distributed in Italy by Be Water Film – is the only woman camera operator at a Kabul TV station in Afghanistan in 2021, on the eve of the Taliban’s return. FESCAAAL will celebrate Shahrbanoo Sadat by way of three films and a talk with the filmmaker after the screening of his latest work.

Under the artistic direction of Annamaria Gallone and Alessandra Speciale, the event will present 47 films this year (21 directed by women), confirming its vocation as a cultural bridge between the three continents and Europe, with a focus on co-productions which enable these cinematic approaches to reach international audiences, and on female voices which are redefining contemporary film language.

The Windows on the World Feature Film Competition will showcase numerous European co-productions which have premiered in major festivals. From Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section comes Aisha Can’t Fly Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Morad Mostafa
film profile], the debut feature by Egyptian director Morad Mostafa. This urban thriller centres on a Sudanese caregiver living in a neighbourhood in the heart of Cairo, which acts as a backdrop to tensions between African migrants and local gangs. Likewise selected in the Un Certain Regard section, Promised Sky [+see also:
film review
interview: Erige Sehiri
film profile] by Franco-Tunisian director Erige Sehiri, which triumphed in Marrakech in December, is set in Tunis amidst growing tensions between immigrants and Tunisians, where an Ivorian evangelical pastor (Debora Lobe Naney, who also scooped an award) tries to give her flock hope. From the Berlinale’s Panorama line-up comes the psychological thriller Safe Exit [+see also:
film review
interview: Mohammed Hammad
film profile] by Mohammed Hammad, which follows a young caretaker in a Cairo apartment building who leads a solitary life, marked by the trauma of his parents being killed by ISIS. Also worth noting is Laundry [+see also:
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film profile], the feature debut by South African director Zamo Mkhwanazi which was presented in Toronto’s Discovery section. This coming-of-age tale is set in 1968 in Johannesburg, at the height of Apartheid.

In the non-competitive Flash section, works presented by FESCAAAL will include Dao [+see also:
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interview: Alain Gomis
film profile] by Franco-Senegalese director Alain Gomis, which competed in the Berlinale and which celebrates life, death and memory by way of a wedding on the outskirts of Paris and a commemoration in Guinea-Bissau. From Toronto and Locarno, Irkalla – Gilgamesh’s Dream [+see also:
film review
film profile], by Iraqi filmmaker Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji, takes us onto the streets of Baghdad where children are forced fend for themselves to survive the turmoil, while Palestine 36 [+see also:
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film profile] by Annemarie Jacir, which also screened in Toronto and has been chosen to represent Palestine at the Oscars, is set to close the awards ceremony.

Highlights in the Extr'A Competition, reserved for Italian films, include Ni primera ni dama by documentary-maker Barbara Cupisti, homing in on a young anthropologist and political activist in Chile called Irina Karamanos who, in 2022, as the partner of President Gabriel Boric, accepts and then relinquishes the role of First Lady because she refuses to be reduced to a symbolic figure. From late 19th-century Italy to Rio de Janeiro, I fratelli Segreto by Federico Ferrone and Michele Manzolini recounts the true story of brothers Pasquale, Gaetano and Alfonso Segreto, who were the first filmmakers in Brazilian history. Last but not least, Salvatore Allocca’s documentary presented in Rome, Residence Hammamet – My Mother’s Maktub [+see also:
film review
film profile], revolves around his mother who emigrated to Tunisia and the community of Italian retirees who move to where the cost of living is lower.

(Translated from Italian)