It’s scarcely a novel point that places which house political upheaval produce great art, which makes it exciting that this year’s Middle Eastern Film Festival will primarily focus on the work of Egyptian filmmakers. The country has the seed of a hope for political reform next year when longstanding president Hosni Mubarak finally gives up the reins, and anyone with a taste for artistic revolt should head to the Filmhouse this month.

There’s the usual mix of classics and new work, from Youssef Chahine’s enduring 1958 work Cairo Station to Marwan Hamed’s recent Yacoubian Building, which boldly examines the disproportion of wealth in the country. Also set to provoke audiences is a series of films tackling the horrors of Israel’s occupation of Palestine, including Najwa Najjar’s recent Pomegranates and Myrhh which depicts a tender romance crushed by Israeli oppression.

The highlight of the events list though, has to be the master-class with Egyptian filmmaker Ibrahim El Batout, who’ll discuss the relative merits of fiction and documentary in their capacity to portray human stories against a background of political unrest.

The organisers elaborate on why this year’s festival is going to be particularly special: “The 2010 Middle Eastern Film Festival will offer a retrospective on Egyptian cinema following last year’s retrospective on Iranian cinema. Other films in the programme include films on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Laila’s Birthday, and Knowledge is the Beginning. There are also outings for the uplifting Iranian comedy Song of the Sparrows, and two exceptional documentaries which screened in the Edinburgh International Film Festival last June – from Lebanon, The One Man Village and, from Turkey, On the Way to School.”

Go to Filmhouse for full listings of films and activities and ticket deals

Festival: Fri 12 Feb – Mon 1 Mar

There will also be externally organised Pre Events from Tuesday 23 February – Thursday 4 March 2010, a Middle East Youth Festival from Saturday 27 February – Wednesday 3 March 2010, a Middle Eastern Film Festival at the Filmhouse from Friday 12 February – Monday 1 March 2010, and a 2010 Middle Eastern Festival One World Peace Concert on Saturday 6 February 2010, and there will be Exhibitions and Displays from Monday 11 January – Wednesday 31 March 2010 at venues across Edinburgh.