"Passing Dreams" opens the 15th Malmö Arab Film Festival 2025

Malmö, Sweden

The Malmö Arab Film Festival has announced that the Palestinian film Passing Dreams, directed by Rashid Masharawi, has been selected as the opening film for the festival’s 15th edition, taking place from April 29 to May 5, 2025, in Malmö, Sweden.

Produced as a collaboration between Palestine, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, and France, the film takes audiences on a cinematic journey. It follows Sami, a young 12 years old boy, takes us on an exciting adventure that spans an entire day and night in
the company of his uncle, and the uncle’s daughter, who is two years older than him, in search of a
missing bird: a homing pigeon that Sami believes has flown back to its home of origin.

Passing Dreams previously premiered as the opening film of the 45th Cairo International Film Festival. Its screening at Malmö Arab Film Festival will take place on April 29, 2025, at Royal Cinema in Malmö, in the presence of the director and members of the film’s team.

Director Rashid Masharawi expressed his happiness at the selection, emphasizing the importance of showcasing films that reflect the Palestinian reality and portray its identity, culture, and history—especially in these critical times.

Mouhamad Keblawi, founder and Executive Chairman of Malmö Arab Film Festival, highlighted that choosing Passing Dreams as the opening film aligns with the festival’s ongoing commitment to fostering cinematic collaborations between Swedish and Arab filmmakers—one of its core missions since its inception. The film received production support from the Swedish Film Institute and was developed in partnership with Film i Skåne. Additionally, it involved collaboration with Kinana Films, founded by Basel Mawlawi, and featured contributions from artists and technicians from both Sweden and the Arab world.

Rashid Masharawi is an acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker whose films, all showing with irony the daily Palestine life, won several prizes and were shown in international and Arab film festivals for decades.
In 1996, he founded Cinema Production and Distribution Center (CPC) in Ramallah, to train young Palestinian filmmakers and develop a Palestinian cinema.