SSF 2026 Journey Film Category Showcases Global Storytelling
The Saudi Film Festival (SSF) 2026 has unveiled the lineup for its 'Journey Film' category, featuring four distinctive films that explore themes of displacement, family, and survival. The selection includes the first-ever Rohingya-language feature film, a Cannes Jury Prize winner, an Iraqi drama set during the Saddam Hussein era, and an Egyptian short about emigration.
'Lost Land': A Rohingya Refugee Story
Directed by Japanese filmmaker Akio Fujimoto, 'Lost Land' is billed as the first-ever Rohingya-language feature film. It follows nine-year-old Somira and her four-year-old brother Shafi as they flee persecution in Myanmar and attempt to reach Malaysia, where their uncle lives. The film stars Shomira Rias Uddin and Muhammad Shofik Rias Uddin.
'Lost Land' won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival in 2025. Fujimoto spent 12 years working in Myanmar, where discussion of the Rohingya minority is suppressed. 'That silence became a burden to me and led me to this film,' he wrote in his director's statement for Venice.
'Sirat': A Desert Road Trip Drama
French director Oliver Laxe's 'Sirat' won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2025 and was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Oscars, ultimately losing to Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value.' The film stars Sergi Lopez, Bruno Nunez Arjona, and Richard Bellamy.
The plot follows Lars, who travels to a party in the Moroccan desert with his son Esteban in search of his missing daughter Mar. Their journey turns into an explosive and dangerous road trip across the sands in the company of a group of ravers.
'The President's Cake': Iraqi Satire
Iraqi director Hasan Hadi's 'The President's Cake' won the Audience Award at the Cannes Film Festival's Director's Fortnight section in 2025. Set in the 1990s, the film centers on nine-year-old Lamia, who lives with her grandmother Bibi in the Mesopotamian Marshes.
Lamia is chosen by her school to bake a cake for then-President Saddam Hussein's birthday. The family lacks money for ingredients, but Lamia's teacher threatens punishment if she fails. Lamia and Bibi head to the city in search of flour, eggs, sugar, and baking powder, but the trip goes disastrously wrong. The film stars Baneen Ahmad Nayyef and Sajad Mohamad Qasem.
'Cairo, Standstill': A Short About Leaving
Egyptian director Amr Abed's 'Cairo, Standstill' is one of five shorts screened together at the festival. It tells the story of a young couple in Cairo scheduled to leave Egypt in a few days. After finally receiving an offer for their double-parked car on a busy street, husband Ali gets cold feet and must choose between leaving his homeland or leaving his wife. The film stars Emad Esmail and Doaa Hamza.
