Project Detail

SECULAR | Aa'La'Ma'Ni

Synopsis

Aa'La'Ma'Ni means worldly in Arabic. It's a significant term in the Middle East, where secularism is controversial. SECULAR | Aa'La'Ma'Ni a documentary based on academic research, explores the depiction of secularism in Middle Eastern cinema and TV channels. Filmmakers and producers from the region, openly discuss religion, sectarianism, authorities, minorities, and industry challenges.

Details

Year
2024
Type of project
Shorts
Running time
50 min 40 sec
Director
Khaldoun H. Shami
Producer
Khaldoun H. Shami
Co-Producer
Lamees Assaf

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Khaldoun H. Shami

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Palm to Palm: Love, Home, Family Palm to Palm: Love, Home, Family

Director: Khaldoun H. Shami

Year: 2019

Eliane from Chile, Milad from Iran, and Georgia from Greece are three migrants in the UK who share their thoughts on love, home, family, and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Every Moon Is Atrocious Every Moon Is Atrocious

Director: Yvonne McDevitt

Year: 2026

Structured as a psychogeographic voyage, the film explores place, memory, and sensation through the inner life of a poet whose sense of self gradually dissolves into cinematic reflection. Departing from conventional documentary forms, EVERY MOON IS ATROCIOUS invites audiences into a layered sensory environment where image, sound, and language operate associatively. At its core lies the poetry of the late Niall McDevitt (1967-2022), whose work forms the conceptual and emotional spine of the film, shaping a trance-like rhythm that mirrors the protagonist’s journey towards death and the unknown. Yvonne McDevitt’s filmmaking resists separating form from feeling. Dreamlike visuals, intense durational shots, and richly layered sound design prioritise emotional resonance over linear narrative. Fragmented imagery and superimpositions draw viewers into a meditative mode, presenting the film as a cinematic drift that charts inner terrains as much as physical ones. Movement through cities and coastlines becomes inseparable from movement through memory, grief, and desire. Official Selection Dublin International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere

Ajamu X, Holding the Frame Ajamu X, Holding the Frame

Director: Joseph a. Adesunloye

Year: 2026

A radical Black Queer photographer and archivist challenges respectability politics through his intimate portraits, reclaiming the right to represent Black desire, pleasure and memory on his own terms.