Culture 4 min read By Mason Emerson
Sharjah Film Festival Unveils 13th Edition Lineup With Thai, Brazilian and Emirati Titles
The Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth returns Oct. 26-31 with films from Thailand, Brazil, India, Italy and the Arab world, including a Green Carpet program spotlighting Chayanop Bunprakob and Baz Poonpiriya.
The Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth has announced the lineup for its 13th edition, bringing films from Thailand, Brazil, India, Italy and across the Arab world to the United Arab Emirates. The festival runs Oct. 26 through Oct. 31, with a program built around international festival titles, emerging filmmakers and homegrown Emirati talent.
At the center of the announcement is the festival's Green Carpet program, which includes work from Thai directors Chayanop Bunprakob and Baz Poonpiriya. The two filmmakers are among the international names whose projects will screen during the six-day event, which has positioned itself as a dedicated showcase for cinema aimed at younger audiences and the people who make it.
The lineup spans several continents, drawing from established film industries in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. Titles from Thailand, Brazil, India and Italy sit alongside selections from the Arab world, giving the festival a broad geographic reach unusual for an event focused specifically on children's and youth cinema. The mix reflects Sharjah's broader effort to present international work to regional audiences while also giving Arab filmmakers a platform alongside their global peers.
Emirati talent features prominently in the program, underscoring the festival's role in developing a local filmmaking community. The inclusion of UAE-based filmmakers in the official selection gives regional creatives a chance to screen their work before an international audience and to connect with visiting directors and producers during the festival's run.
The 13th edition continues a tradition of pairing screenings with industry activity. Festivals of this kind typically use their programs to introduce emerging directors to distributors, programmers and festival scouts, and Sharjah's event has built its reputation on serving younger viewers while also functioning as a meeting point for the region's creative industries.
The festival's timing places it in a busy stretch of the international calendar, when film events across Asia and Europe draw attention to new titles and rising filmmakers. For audiences in the UAE, the Sharjah program offers access to films that may not otherwise receive a theatrical release in the region, including work from Thai and Brazilian directors whose films have circulated on the festival circuit.
Chayanop Bunprakob and Baz Poonpiriya are both associated with a wave of contemporary Thai cinema that has traveled widely beyond Southeast Asia. Their presence in the Green Carpet lineup signals the festival's interest in commercially successful Asian filmmaking as well as arthouse work, a balance that has become a defining feature of programming for youth-oriented festivals.
The full slate also highlights the growing visibility of children's and youth film as a distinct category within the global festival ecosystem. Events dedicated to this audience increasingly compete for premieres and for the attention of families, schools and young cinephiles, and Sharjah's lineup is designed to serve all three groups across its six-day schedule.
With films from five distinct filmmaking regions and a dedicated showcase for Emirati directors, the 13th edition positions Sharjah as a crossroads for international children's cinema. The festival opens Oct. 26 and concludes Oct. 31, with the Green Carpet program anchoring a slate that mixes established festival names with newer voices from the region and beyond.
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