Qamar is an independent digital film library dedicated to the cinemas of Southwest Asia, North Africa and their diasporas.
Across South West Asia and North Africa, a rich, diverse and constantly evolving cinema is being made — moving between languages, countries and borders, between fiction and documentary, contemporary works and films from the past, established filmmakers and emerging voices.
Qamar exists to make this cinema more visible, easier to discover, and more accessible.
The catalogue brings together films from 1990 to the present, including feature films, documentaries, short and medium-length films from across the region and its diasporas. We look for films that have travelled through international festivals and independent cinemas, alongside lesser-known works that deserve to reach wider audiences.
What connects them is not a genre or a single aesthetic, but the strength of the perspective behind them.
Because films travel differently across borders, their paths to audiences do too. Qamar explores where these films can be discovered and seen, connecting audiences with legal viewing options across territories and helping cinema travel beyond the boundaries that often limit its reach.
We believe in making the richness and diversity of SWANA cinema easier to discover, wherever you are.
Because a film only truly exists when it is seen.