Like every year, during the second half of January in Sofia, and several other cities of the country, was held Sofia MENAR Film Festival.

There were presented 50 of the best feature, documentary and short films of the Middle East and North Africa. The organizer of the festival –the association "POZOR", focused this year's edition on women filmmakers. For the first time films from Bangladesh, Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan took part. The program included especially themed events associated with the countries of this region, as well as the customs of the ethnic groups that inhabit their land.

Among the films particularly bright bulged those of Palestine –the short documentary "Broken Strings" directed by Ahmed Hassuna and the feature "Villa Tuma" by director and producer Suha Arafat, the Lebanese "Without Him" written by George Habaz and producers Nicola Habaz and Sam Lahoud, the Algerian "Operation Mayo" directed by OkashaTwuita and the many award-winning French-Moroccan film "Orchestra of the Blind" directed by Mohammed Muftakir. All films were presented in cooperation with the embassies of the countries in Sofia.

Sofia MENAR Film Festival has truly become one of the largest art events in the Balkans, introducing the audience to the culture and traditions of the Islamic world. The MENAR abbreviation comes from the name under which the countries of the Middle East and North Africa are determined as a whole - Middle East and North Africa Region.