Simsim (2025)
Line up: Humans of Film Festival – Sixth edition

Humans of Film Festival (HoFF) is back from 20 to 29 November 2026 for an expanded sixth edition: nine days of arthouse film screened across LAB111, Filmhuis Cavia, Ventilator Cinema, Filmtheater de Uitkijk and other venues around the city. This year’s programme is built around EMPATHY and brings together feature films and shorts from around the world. Screenings are paired with talks, workshops and community events that explore the theme from every angle.

HoFF celebrates world cinema and human interest films that center diverse, often underrepresented voices and lived experiences. Rooted in a strong social and cultural mission, the festival creates space for connection and storytelling across themes such as identity, inequality, migration, and representation.
 

Simsim

Sondos Al-Smerat | 2025 | Jordan |  82’ | Arabic, EN subtitles

Simsim, a woman in her late twenties, dreams of starting a new chapter in her life, free from her unhappy marriage and ready to build a better future for herself and her daughter. She has even found a new man who might offer them a fresh start. There's just one problem: her estranged husband, Qasem, refuses to grant her a divorce unless she finds him a new wife.

Determined to break free, Simsim sets out on the rather absurd task of finding her husband a bride. But what begins as a desperate attempt to escape her marriage gradually turns into something far more personal. As her search takes one unexpected turn after another, Simsim begins to question whether the freedom she longs for can really be found in another relationship, or whether she must first find it within herself.