The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has announced its fall film program as part of Season 11, Stories of Our Communities. The series explores history, identity, and belonging through Arab and international cinema, while offering audiences the chance to engage directly with filmmakers.
The season begins on October 14 with Happy Holidays, the latest feature by Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti. Winner of the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay at the Venice International Film Festival, the film is a piercing family drama set between Jerusalem and Haifa. Copti said, “Set among the Palestinians of 1948, those who stayed in their cities and villages after the Nakba found themselves living as a minority under a new state. Happy Holidays explores how fear, silence, and the values we grow up with shape the ways we love and hurt each other, and how systems of control continue to thrive when we no longer question them. Sharing Happy Holidays through CinemaNA at The Arts Center at NYUAD feels like bringing the film home. For the past eight years, I’ve been curating this Arab film series, and teaching film here at NYU Abu Dhabi for more than twelve years, so this space is part of my own cinematic journey.” Following the screening, audiences will be able to join Copti in conversation about the creative process and the cultural realities that shape his work.
On October 28, Emirati director Nawaf Al Janahi curates Cineolio’s Cinenights, a program of five international shorts which explore memory, resilience, and the universality of human connection. Highlights include DreamLink (Australia), about a teenager who seeks comfort in a dream-sharing app, and Into the Night (Algeria), where a woman searches the city for a missing loved one. Life in Pink Like in the Movies (Switzerland) follows a filmmaker who uncovers family secrets through old Super 8 reels, while The Shore (Netherlands) presents a surreal tale of abandonment and mortality. The program concludes with Wintry Spring (Egypt), a poignant exploration of a father-daughter relationship tested by adolescence.
The fall film season concludes on November 4 with My Driver and I by Saudi filmmaker Ahd Kamel. Set in 1980s and 90s Jeddah, the film traces the unlikely friendship between a rebellious Saudi teenager and her Sudanese driver, capturing the ways independence and belonging are negotiated in everyday life. He drives her in a car but ultimately enables her to take the wheel of her own life’s journey. Kamel said, “My Driver and I is my most personal film, an act of remembrance and gratitude. It’s about friendship that transcends social roles, about love that hides in everyday moments, and about the silent bonds that shape us long after the person is gone. In telling this story, I wanted to honor Mohi, my driver, who was never just that – he was family, he was home.” The screening will be followed by a live conversation with Kamel.
Bill Bragin, Executive Artistic Director at The Arts Center at NYUAD, said: “Film has always been a powerful way to reflect who we are, as individuals and as communities. The films in our fall program amplify our season theme, which asks us to consider the stories that shape us, and the transformations that come when those stories are shared. As The Arts Center begins its second decade, this film season underscores our commitment to bold storytelling, deep cultural dialogue, and amplifying voices from the Arab world and beyond. We’re especially excited that this fall’s lineup centers on the work of filmmakers and curators all based right here in Abu Dhabi.”
Together, CinemaNA and Cineolio’s Cinenights embody The Arts Center’s interdisciplinary approach, connecting art and scholarship while amplifying voices from the MENASA region and beyond. The films reinforce the season’s theme, echoing the UAE’s Year of Community by inviting reflection on heritage, transformation, and shared experience.
Listings Information (October–November)
Event: CinemaNa: Happy Holidays – Scandar Copti
Date: Tuesday, October 14 at 7:30pm
Venue: The Blue Hall, The Arts Center
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Event: Cineolio’s Cinenights – International Short Films Program
Date: Tuesday, October 28 at 7:30pm
Venue: The Blue Hall, The Arts Center
Visit here for details and tickets
Event: CinemaNa: My Driver and I – Ahd Kamel
Date: Tuesday, November 4 at 7:30pm
Venue: The Blue Hall, The Arts Center
Visit here for details and tickets
Biographies
Scandar Copti
Scandar Copti is an Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist whose work explores the interplay between individual agency and broader socio-political forces. His debut feature Ajami (2009), co-directed with Yaron Shani, received the Caméra d’Or Special Mention at Cannes and an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. His second feature, Happy Holidays (2024), premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay, and went on to win the Étoile d’Or at the Marrakech International Film Festival and the Golden Alexander at Thessaloniki. Copti also teaches filmmaking at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Nawaf Al Janahi
Nawaf Al Janahi is an Emirati actor and director whose films have been described as milestones in Gulf cinema. His debut feature The Circle was called a “turning point” in Emirati filmmaking, and his second feature Sea Shadow (2011) toured internationally, screening in 27 countries. Alongside filmmaking, he has founded initiatives such as the Emirati Cinema Campaign and Black Box Cinema, and curated international programmes through Cineolio. His work frequently explores themes of memory, belonging, and the cultural intersections of the Arab world.
Ahd Kamel
Ahd Hassan Kamel is an award-winning Saudi actress and filmmaker. She is best known for her role in the BAFTA-nominated film Wadjda (2014) and appearances in the BBC/Netflix series Collateral and Amazon’s All the Old Knives. She has written, directed, and acted in two acclaimed short films, The Shoemaker (2009) and Sanctity (2012), the latter being the first Saudi film to compete at the Berlinale. Her debut feature, My Driver and I (2025), received support from the Red Sea Film Foundation and UK Global Screen Fund. In 2019, she was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
