February 2026 Hayy Cinema Programme

Join us this February at Hayy Cinema for a celebration of cultures, voices, and collective experiences through a focused selection of contemporary and classic cinema.

The program brings together cinematic treasures from across eras and regions, featuring a Rendezvous with French Cinema. Highlights include Agnès Varda’s Cléo From 5 to 7 (1962), restored Egyptian classics starring the legendary Um Kalthoum, Aida (1942) and Song of Hope (1937), and recent regional favorites from Saudi Arabia and Palestine: Hijra (2025), All That’s Left of You (2025), and Palestine 36 (2025).

If you missed the Hayy Cinema at Saha screenings, this February offers the opportunity to experience the same programme through regular indoor screenings at Hayy Cinema!

Dabis showcases the foundation of generational stories and conflicts in real time, how unkind words and whispered insults are oftentimes the only defense of the oppressed, and how families are made to turn against each other

– Rotten Tomatoes

Jordan’s Official Selection for the 98th Academy Awards.

All That’s Left of You (2025): A Palestinian teenager gets swept into a protest in the Occupied West Bank and experiences a moment of violence that rocks his family. The film unfolds as his mother recounts the political and emotional threads that led to that fateful moment. Spanning seven decades, the film traces the hopes and heartaches of one uprooted family, bearing witness to the scars of dispossession and the enduring legacy of survival.  

Directed by: Cherien Dabis

Genre: Drama Duration: 2h25m

Country of Production: Germany, Cyprus, Palestine, Jordan, Greece, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia

Language: Arabic Subtitles: English

Age Classification: R18

Cast: Cherien Dabis, Saleh Bakri, Mohammad Bakri

Competed at 82nd Venice Film Festival, ‘Hijra’: Saudi Arabia’s 2026 International Feature Submission Is a Journey Through Generations, Landscapes and Identity

– Variety

Hijra (2025):  Twelve-year-old Janna travels to Mecca with her grandmother and sister for Hajj, but when her sister disappears, a tense search begins. As the journey unfolds, hidden truths emerge, turning the pilgrimage into a path toward understanding and redemption.

Directed by: Shahad Ameen 

Genre: Drama Duration: 1h55m

Country of Production: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, UK

Language: Arabic  Subtitles: English

Cast: Khairia Nazmi, Lamar Faden, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy, Raghad Bokhari, Abdulsalam Alhawiti, Lana Komsany, Ghaliah Amin, Baraa Alem

Age Classification: R15

Nashid Al-Amal (Song of Hope), the 1937 Egyptian drama starring Umm Kulthum, blends romance, social constraint, and musical power into a poignant portrait of a woman torn between love and artistic ambition.

RESTORED IN 4K.

Nashid El Amal / Song of Hope (1937):  Umm Kulthum stars as Amal, a talented singer caught between love and her artistic ambitions in a society that prioritizes marriage over career. Through her struggle, the film explores the tension between duty and aspiration, remaining a lasting cinematic classic.

 Directed by: Ahmed Badrakhan

Genre: Musical, Drama Duration: 1h25m

Country of Production: Egypt

Language: Arabic Subtitles: English

Age Classification: R15

Cast: Umm Kulthum, Abbas Fares, Zakky Tolaymat, Fouad Shahin

“100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Palestine 36 continues to resonate with critics and audiences alike, a powerful milestone for a film that reclaims a buried chapter of history.”

Watermelon Pictures

Palestine 36 (2025): In 1936, as rebellion sweeps across Mandate Palestine, Yusuf, caught between his rural home and the charged atmosphere of Jerusalem, longs for peace. But with Jewish immigrants fleeing European fascism, the region is heading fast toward a major collision. Palestine 36, a historical drama set during the period, explores the Palestinian Arab Revolt against British colonial rule, focusing on the stories of individuals caught in the conflict as well as the human cost of the uprising. It follows the lives of Palestinian farmers, city dwellers and British officers as they confront the conflict. 

Directed by: Annemarie Jacir

Genre: Drama, History Duration: 1h59m

Country of Production: Palestine, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan

Language: Arabic, English  Subtitles: English, Arabic

Age Classification: R15

Cast: Yasmine Al Massri, Liam Cunningham, Billy Howle, Ward Helou, Wardi Elabouni, Karim Daoud, Yafa Bakri, Robert Aramayo, Jalal Al Tawil, Kamel El Basha, Hiam Abbas, Saleh Bakri, Dhafer L’abidine, Jeremy Irons

Aida, the 1942 Egyptian film starring Umm Kulthum, delivers a captivating fusion of romance, social commentary and musical brilliance.
RESTORED IN 4K.

Aida (1942): Aydah is a village girl who loses her father, Mohamed Effendi, in a murder in the village on the day she graduates. The pasha’s son, Sami, who didn’t complete his education, shows her kindness, and she joins the music institute, where a love story develops between them.

Directed by: Ahmed Badrakhan

Genre: Musical, Romance Duration: 1h32m

Country of Production: Egypt

Language: Arabic Subtitles: English

Age Classification: R15

Cast: Umm Kulthum, Ibrahim Hammouda, Suleiman Naguib, Abbas Faris, Abdel-Warith Assar, Mahmoud Reda

“From a place of fearless independence, Varda’s film investigates the nature of female identity with a series of thematic and formal contradictions.”

Rotten Tomatoes

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962): Cleo, a singer who often worries about her health, becomes increasingly anxious that she might have cancer, while waiting for her test results.

Directed by: Agnes Varda

Genre: Drama, Comedy Duration: 1h30m

Country of Production: France

Language: French Subtitles: English

Age Classification:  R15

Cast: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray