The 13th edition of the Arab Worlds Cinemas (Aflam) festival, titled Repairing the Image: Arab Cinematic Journeys in the Mediterranean, is being held from October 10 to 18. The festival focuses on film archives and restoration work across the Arab world, from Egypt to Morocco and through Palestine. The theme highlights the importance of preserving and restoring cinematic heritage, especially in regions affected by conflict and political instability. This edition also celebrates the fifth anniversary of the festival's "Living Archives" cycle, which aims to preserve and share historical films. As part of this anniversary, a digital restoration training workshop will take place in Marseille from June 22 to July 2, 2026, supported by the French Institute. The event is organized in collaboration with the Archive circulation initiative (ACI), the Polygone étoilé cinema, and the Dodeskaden cinematheque. Three technicians from Beirut participated in the project, which is part of a digital restoration laboratory initiative in Lebanon. Mathilde Rouxel, a festival programmer, noted the enthusiasm generated by the experience and the need to find sustainable ways to continue such efforts. One of the highlights of the festival is the restored 4K version of the film Ahlam Saghira (Petits rêves) by Khaled El Hagar, made in 1993. The film follows the protagonist Ghareeb, who loses his father during the Suez Crisis in 1956 and later joins the resistance during the 1967 Israel-Arab war, viewing the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser as a symbol of his missing father. Also featured is the restored documentary Al Ahwar (The Marshes, 1976) by Kassem Hawal, which documents life in the Mesopotamian marshes before they were drained under Saddam Hussein's regime, an act considered one of the worst environmental crimes in history. Although some areas have been partially restored, reduced river flow has caused salinization, threatening local species and making the water non-potable. The marshes were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. The festival will also include a meeting between Kassem Hawal and Palestinian filmmaker Mohanad Yaqubi, titled The Revolutionaries Never Die: Filmmakers Solidary with the Palestinian People. Yaqubi's work is part of an "archaeology of cinema of struggle," and he co-directed the book Jocelyne Saab: Inventory 1973-1983 (Sharjah Art Foundation, 2025), which catalogs the sixteen films of the Franco-Lebanese filmmaker made between 1973 and 1983. A session titled Fabricating Beirut in Cinema: Behind the Scenes of Jocelyne Saab will show rushes and archive images related to her work, particularly around the siege of Beirut in 1982 and the filming of Nahla (1979) by Farouk Beloufa. Another roundtable will examine the place of Armenian, Kurdish, and Amazigh archives, questioning the national narratives that have left certain stories on the margins.