Arze will be premiering in the UK on 13 June here at the Garden Cinema. The screening will be followed by a zoom Q&A with director Mira Shaib, hosted by the Arab Film Club's Sarah Agha.

In Mira Shaib's debut feature, struggling single mum Arzé runs a small fatayer business from her home. As demand picks up, she buys her son a scooter. However, when the scooter is stolen, Arzé, frustrated by the lack of police action, takes matters into her own hands and journeys across Beirut to retrieve it, dragging her son Kinan along with her, navigating the city’s web of sectarianism - constantly adapting her attire and accent as she visits in turn a Sunni restaurateur, a Maronite business, a Palestinian camp, a Shia barber...

Although lighthearted and laugh-out-loud funny in parts, Arze is richly textured film, uncannily revealing the many layers of Beirut's very specific cultural tapistry. The film has proven a real festival hit with Lebanese and international audiences alike, and was Lebanon’s submission for the 2025 Academy Awards.