An intimate, one-night screening explores Tangier through three short films.

South by South returns to the South London Gallery with a special edition titled A View From Tangier, a focused evening of cinema that shines a light on North Africa’s contemporary film culture. Programmed in collaboration with The Arab British Centre as part of SLG’s Yto Barrada exhibition, the event runs for one night only and brings together emerging voices and established artists who are each in dialogue with Tangier’s past, present, and evolving urban landscape.

Founded as a quarterly platform dedicated to cinema from Africa and its diaspora, South by South places the city of Tangier at the centre of this autumn’s edition. The selection aligns with Barrada’s long-standing commitment to the region, which extends beyond the gallery through her founding of La Cinémathèque de Tanger in the historic Cinema Rif. The evening also reinforces the themes of Yto Barrada: Thrill, Fill and Spill, SLG’s major exhibition that traces connections between colour, ecology, social memory, and borderlands.

The programme opens with Visions of a Dreamt Sunset by Yasmeen Benabdallah. Made during a residency at La Cinémathèque de Tanger, the film is a compact travelogue that turns toward loss, healing, and the city’s layered colonial legacies. Its reflective tone sets the mood for a night that privileges intimate narratives over spectacle.

Next is DarHome by Salma El Belghiti, a collaborative work created with young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Tangier. Participants perform scripts rooted in their own lives, using storytelling as a form of collective therapy. The screening is presented in partnership with Marrakech Short Film Festival, underscoring the cross-city networks that continue to nurture North African film.

The final film, In Praise of Slowness by Hicham Gardaf, contemplates Tangier’s rapid urbanisation. Shot with a keen eye for rhythm and routine, it reveals how local gestures of slowness resist the speed and pressures of capitalism. Gardaf’s study of everyday movement becomes a quiet counterpoint to a city in flux.

The film screenings will then be followed by a panel discussion with artist Hicham Gardaf and Imane Elkabli from the Marrakech Short Film Festival, chaired by the film programme’s curator Jessica el Mal. Expect a grounded conversation that links the films to broader cultural questions raised by Barrada’s exhibition and Tangier’s ongoing narratives.

Tickets are available to buy now via the South London Gallery website.

GO: Visit www.southlondongallery.org for more information.