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©Cinémathèque marocaine

2026 FIAF Rabat Symposium

"Reimagining African and Arab Film Memory: Methodologies, Collaborations, Restitutions, and Dialogues"

Cinémathèque marocaine, Rabat, 27-29 April 2026

This event received essential funding from:


We are pleased to present the recorded sessions from the 2026 FIAF Congress Symposium titled "Reimagining African and Arab Film Memory: Methodologies, Collaborations, Restitutions, and Dialogues". 

African and Arab cinemas are among the most diverse, artistically proficient cinemas in the world, spanning experimental and popular forms from many cultures, diasporas and countries. However, African and Arab film heritage remains among the least well-preserved, disseminated, exhibited and funded, for reasons that are inseparable from decades of colonialism and neo-colonial practices. This Symposium sought to address and redress these historical imbalances by opening a dialogue with practitioners, archivists, researchers and historians from Morocco, Egypt, Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Palestine, Lebanon, Colombia, France, the United Kingdom, and many more, giving a platform to important presentations and discussions on these colleagues' work with African and Arab cinematographic heritage, including diasporic heritage.

The Scientific Committee was composed of Cecilia Cenciarelli (Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna); Mohamed Challouf (Association Ciné-Sud Patrimoine), Tamer El Said (Cimatheque - Alternative Film Center), Narjiss Nejjar (Fondation Cinémathèque Marocaine), Arike Oke (British Film Institute), Stefanie Schulte Strathaus (Arsenal Filminstitut) and Léonce Tira (Cinémathèque Africaine de Ouagadougou - FESPACO), under the coordination of Lisabona Rahman (FIAF).

Click on each of the images below to access the programme and video recording of the corresponding Symposium session. Please forgive us for the not always perfect quality of the sound and image. Please note also that the presentations were delivered in one of the three official FIAF languages and that these video-recordings do not include subtitles or audio-translation.

You can also consult the recordings of all FIAF Symposia since 2019.

Session 1

Opening Remarks and Day 1 Keynote Speech

Session 2

Strategies for Recovery and Consolidation of African and Arab Film Heritage

Session 3

Making Restitution Possible, Part I: Inventing Methods and Frameworks

Session 4

Challenges and Opportunities Facing African Film Heritage


Sessions 5 & 6

Day 2 Keynote Speech and Archiving Despite Everything: Resilience and Rebuilding

Session 7

Transferring and Exchanging Knowledge in Film Preservation, Part I

Session 8

Transferring and Exchanging Knowledge in Film Preservation, Part II

Session 9

Making Restitution Possible, Part II: Reparation and Dissemination Practices


Session 10

Fostering Awareness, Creating Communities

Session 11

Reconstitution of Memory, Heritage and Identity

Session 12

Dialogues with Practices

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