Maqamāt is a monthly short film programme, curated by A Kiss in the Desert in collaboration with Zawya, the leading art house cinema in Cairo. Inspired by the Maqamāt, a concise  literary format, with recurring characters adapting different roles, in a manner like that of a short film. 

The short films curated each month share a theme, and are screened with English/Arabic subtitles; aiming  to expand the short films viewership in Egypt. The programme was screened on May 18th, 2023, at Zaywa Arthouse Cinema.

May 2023: Bodies of Water

The Programme


1. In Shallow Water, Marek Moučka, Slovakia., 10’



Finding connections between christmas traditional dish and sentenced prisoners lead to closer look on questions about the meaning of freedom and identity. unrecognisable faces, but the voices still remain. Is the debt towards society redeemable with sorrow?


2. Aqueductos, Álvaro Martin Sanz, Spain, 8’



Aqueducts transport water. Images transmit the memory. Aqueducts images are useless.


3. Barbas de Baleia, Mariana Bàrtolo, Portugal/Germany, 11’ 



The repository for the myths and memories of a village on the Atlantic coast. The stories appear as if the oral tradition were the only narrative that remains, bringing to the present ancient and almost lost traditions


4. River Rites, Ben Russell, U.S, 12’



Animists are people who recognise that the world is full of persons, some of whom are human, and that life is always lived in relationship with others.


5. Noite Turva, Diogo Salgado, Portugal, 15’



Birds fly over two kids playing by the lake. The disappearance of one dims the night of the other.