At this year’s Sharjah Intl. Film Festival for Children and Youth , the next generation of Arab filmmakers isn’t waiting for permission to create. Armed with mobile phones, editing apps, and an evolving relationship with artificial intelligence, they’re redefining who gets to tell stories across the Middle East.

For 14-year-old Fajer Saeed Alyileili from the emirate of Fujairah, the journey began on Instagram. “I saw that there was a registration open for junior jurors for the Sharjah festival,” she recalls. “I just tapped on the link, and that was it.”

Using only her phone and free apps, she makes short documentaries raising awareness about pollution in her hometown, as well as about scoliosis, drawing from her own experience with the condition. “I don’t need to spend a huge amount of

See Full Page