SAFAR Film Festival: My Lost Country + Q&ACert-TBC

Directed by Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez | Chile/Iraq/Egypt/Costa Rica | 2022 | 1h 34m | Arabic w/ English subtitles

Iraqi theater director Mohsen Sadoon Yasin has spent much of his life in involuntary exile. In this deeply personal documentary, Mohsen’s daughter uses family photographs, theatre posters, newspaper clippings and sound recordings to track her father’s global travels. The film presents a patchwork of imaginings, textures and references to theater, rituals and Sumerian cosmology. There is also the constant presence of Iraq, the inaccessible core that Mohsen Sadoon Yasin carries within him, along with the folk songs still echoing in his mind.

SAFAR Film Festival screening followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez chaired by filmmaker Ashtar Al Khirsan.

Purchase tickets to all three of our SAFAR Film Festival screenings to receive a 15% discount on the total cost. Click here to find out more.

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Sorry - you missed it!

We showed SAFAR Film Festival: My Lost Country + Q&A between July 2, 2023 and July 2, 2023.

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What else is on?

Today (Wednesday 25th June)

15:45

The Ballad of Wallis Island 12A
1h 40m
A reclusive lottery winner reunites his favourite band (and old flames) for one last gig. But as memories resurface, so do old wounds. A melancholic British comedy starring Carey Mulligan and Tim Key about lost love and music.

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18:00

A State of Passion Cert-TBC
+ Q&A
1h 30m | Arabic w/ English subtitles
After 43 harrowing days in Gaza’s hospitals, surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah becomes a symbol of Palestinian resistance. This documentary follows his and his family’s journey and steadfast commitment to a homeland under siege. SAFAR Film Festival 2025 screening plus Q&A.

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20:45

Victim PG
1h 40m
This landmark 1961 film broke taboos as the UK’s first to confront homosexuality head-on. Dirk Bogarde delivers a career-defining performance in a brave, compassionate legal thriller that helped change public attitudes.

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Tomorrow (Thursday 26th June)

12:30

The Ballad of Wallis Island 12A
Parent + Baby Screening
1h 40m
A reclusive lottery winner reunites his favourite band (and old flames) for one last gig. But as memories resurface, so do old wounds. A melancholic British comedy starring Carey Mulligan and Tim Key about lost love and music.

Book here

15:00

The Salt Path 12A
Deaf/HOH Subtitles
1h 55m
Evicted and facing illness, a couple embarks on a 630-mile walk along England’s coast. Starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, this moving adaptation of Raynor Winn’s memoir is a story of love, survival, and resilience.

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17:30

Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story 18
1h 21m | Malagasy w/ English subtitles
In Madagascar, a young miner is torn between fast money and his principles. A political, personal debut from Luck Razanajaona, blending 1970s radical spirit with a gripping tale of identity, justice, and survival.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road. We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We don’t show adverts, just a couple of trailers, so don't be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!