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Ajyal Short Films Programme 1: Belonging
Our short programmes at DFF 2025 champion new and established voices in equal measure. Curated with care, each selection offers bold craft, fresh perspectives and the pleasures of discovery, from Qatar to the wider region and beyond. Short in length, expansive in thought.
Ajyal Short Film Competition

A man retraces his life through narrative strands of hair. From barbershop trauma to first love, identity and vulnerability intertwine in this tender reflection of memory, masculinity, and humour.
A middle-aged man recounts his life through memories rooted in hair. From childhood cuts, adolescent doubts, first love, and irretrievable loss, this animation gives form to vulnerability and masculinity, reflecting pressures placed on young men in society. By weaving humour and melancholy, the story reveals the protagonist's dual identities, neither wholly adolescent nor fully adult, neither virile nor diminished. This intimate diary transforms personal vulnerability into a universal meditation on self-image, despair, and the search for balance between strength and frailty.

Credits

Director
Sameh Alaa
Screenwriter
Sameh Alaa
Producer
Avantika Singh Desbouvries
Production Company
Salt for Sugar Films
Sales Company
Square Eyes
Sound
Moataz AlQammari

About the Director

Sameh Alaa
Sameh Alaa is an Egyptian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He’s known for the short films ‘Fifteen’ (2017) and ‘I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face’ (2020), the latter of which won the Short Film Palme d’Or at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, making it the first Egyptian short film to achieve this honour. Alaa has also served as a jury member at festivals like Cannes and Cairo, and his films h