Villa Albertine San Francisco Co-Presents The Little Sister at the 29th Annual Arab Film Festival
The flagship event of the Arab Film and Media Institute, the Arab Film Festival is the largest and longest running independent festival of its kind in North America. Villa Albertine San Francisco is proud to co-present The LIttle Sister (La Petite Derniere), by Hafsia Herzi, adopted from the acclaimed novel by Fatima Daas, as part of the festival’s 29th edition.
Fatima, 17, the youngest of three daughters, treads carefully as she searches for her own path, grappling with emerging desires, her attraction to women, and her loyalty to her caring French-Algerian family. Starting university in Paris, she dates, makes friends, and explores a whole new world, all while confronting a timeless and heartrending dilemma: How can one stay true to oneself when reconciling different parts of one’s identity feels impossible?
This fourth film by Herzi was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, and won the Queer Palm. Hailed as a “low key stunner,” by the Hollywood Reporter, and praised by the Toronto International Film Festival for its’ poetic sensibility and actress Nadia Melliti’s transfixing performances, the film offers an intimate and quietly powerful portrait of identity, family, and self-acceptance.
Courtesy the Arab Film and Media Institute
In partnership with
Arab Film Festival
The Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI) is a non profit organization founded by the team behind the largest and oldest Arab Film Festival in North America, The Arab Film Festival, which includes year-round programs, screenings, and film-related events for the public.
