The 27th Arab Film Festival will open on November 10 in San Francisco with the U.S. Premiere of HAJJAN, a bold and exciting adventure film from award-winning filmmaker, and AFF alum, Abu Bakr Shawky.

In the highly competitive world of desert camel racing, where bedouin family legacies are forged, young Ghanim dreams of seizing victory in the annual Great Safwa Race in honor to his legendary grandfather, known only as Hajjan – “The Jockey”. But tragedy strikes when he is thrown from his mount by a mysterious rider in a golden headscarf, resulting in his tragic death. Witnessing his older brother’s suspicious demise, orphaned Mattar vows to restore his family honor, embarking on a mission to become a Hajjan himself.

Director Bio:
Abu Bakr Shawky is an Egyptian Austrian writer and director who studied film at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and Egypt’s High Institute of Cinema. His works include the short films El Mosta’mara (2009), The Road to Atalia (2010), Martyr Friday (2011), and Things I Heard on Wednesdays (2012), and the features 30/30 Vision: 3 Decades of Strand Releasing (2010) and Yomeddine (2018). Hajjan (2023) is his latest film.