BEIRUT, LEBANON — The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) has announced the grant winners for its 2026 funding cycle across four main programs: Digital Media Platforms, Creative and Critical Writings, Visual Arts, and Documentary Film. Supported by international partners including the European Union, these grants provide crucial financial support to independent creators, journalists, and filmmakers working across the Middle East and North Africa.
Under the Ecologies of Culture program, AFAC awarded $250,000 to support 15 independent digital media platforms across North Africa, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. This funding focuses on strengthening independent journalism, feminist storytelling, and media platforms that cover vital local issues such as climate change, environmental sustainability, and social transformations.
AFAC was able to identify the region's outstanding 22 writing projects and 29 visual arts projects in addiction to literature and visual storytelling. The grants will contribute to the work of writers, researchers and visual artists who document the region's history; look for both personal and collective memory; and create digital archives to safeguard the identity of regional cultures, which still significantly suffer from the political and economic crises.
The AFAC 2026 Documentary Film program includes 21 films which were awarded grants and are to be developed, produced or post-produced in 10 Arab countries by independent jury members. The films address the humanitarian challenges related to displacement and war memories in Iraq and Syria, as well as current problems in Palestine and Gaza and utilize the means of cinema as a channel to document and preserve cultural heritage.
Together, these four grant announcements show a clear shift among regional and international donors toward funding independent media and creative archives in fragile environments. For development organizations, civil society groups, and international donors, AFAC’s latest funding round highlights the growing role of cultural production and independent media in building social resilience across the MENA region.