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Cheltenham International Film Festival · 2026

Cheltenham International Film Festival 2026

Eastern Promise

Programme

4 films · 1 review

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All That's Left Of You (Ally Baqi Mink)

Review preview for All That's Left Of You

Dabis controls revelation with discipline, letting meaning accumulate rather than announcing itself, so that what finally emerges feels earned rather than engineered.

Edin Custo · 4 out of 5
After a Palestinian teen confronts Israeli soldiers at a West Bank protest, his mother recounts the series of events that led him to that fateful moment, starting with his grandfather’s forced displacement.

(Country: Cyprus, Germany; Year: 2025; Director: Cherien Dabis; Writer: Cherien Dabis; Stars: Saleh Bakri, Cherien Dabis, Mohammad Bakri, Adam Bakri, Maria Zreik, Muhammad Abed Elrahman, Sanad Alkabareti, Salah El Din)

Full review

Flying Paper

Palestinian children in Gaza take to the skies in this uplifting documentary about kites, friendship and an extraordinary attempt to break a world record.

(Country: Palestinian Territories; Year: 2014; Director: Nitin Sawhney, Roger Hill)

Gabbeh

A nomad woman dreams of the day when she can matty the man she loves, who has been rejected as a suitor by her family but follows it on horseback.

(Country: Iran; Year: 1996; Director: Moshen Makhmalbaf; Stars: Rogheih Moharami, Hossein Moharami, Shaghayeh Djodat)

The Idol (Ya Tayr El Tayer)

The story of Mohammad Assaf – Gazan winner of Arab Idol.

(Country: Occupied Palestinian Territory; Year: 2015; Director: Hany Abu-Assad; Writer: Hany Abu-Assad, Annemarie Jacir, Sameh Zoabi; Stars: Tawfeek Barhom, Ahmed Al Rokh, Hiba Attalah, Kais Attalah, Abdel Kareem Barakeh, Nadine Labaki, Ahmad Qasem, Saber Shreim)