Arab Films to Watch
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- DirectorJeremy EarpSut JhallyStarsBo DerekAna ObregónJack ShaheenThis groundbreaking documentary dissects a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged form the earliest days of silent film to today's biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Featuring acclaimed author Dr. Jack Shaheen, the film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs--from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding "terrorists"--along the way offering devastating insights into the origin of these stereotypic images, their development at key points in US history, and why they matter so much today. Shaheen shows how the persistence of these images over time has served to naturalize prejudicial attitudes toward Arabs and Arab culture, in the process reinforcing a narrow view of individual Arabs and the effects of specific US domestic and international policies on their lives. By inspiring critical thinking about the social, political, and basic human consequences of leaving these Hollywood caricatures unexamined, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counter-narratives that do justice to the diversity and humanity of Arab people and the reality and richness of Arab history and culture.
- DirectorLina Al AbedSyria is a vibrant melting pot of nationalities, religions and minorities, living together as one. The nation's multiplicity imbues its population with a dynamic spirit. Yet Syria remains a patriarchal society, meaning that the daily lives of Syrian citizens are defined and dominated by men. Lina Alabad's beautiful film asks the question: What, then, is the role of women in Syria? How extensive is their access to freedom and autonomy? And what effect do the limitations imposed upon them by society have on their attitudes towards sexuality and their own bodies.
- DirectorCherien DabisStarsNisreen FaourMelkar MuallemHiam AbbassA drama centered on the trials and tribulations of a proud Palestinian Christian immigrant single mother and her teenage son in small town Indiana.
- DirectorVincent ParonnaudMarjane SatrapiStarsChiara MastroianniCatherine DeneuveGena RowlandsA precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
- DirectorBerit MadsenStarsSepideh HooshyarSedigheh HooshyarAsghar KabiriSepideh wants to become an astronaut. She spends her nights exploring the secrets of the universe, while her family will do anything to keep her on the ground. The expectations for a young Iranian woman are very different from Sepideh's ambitions, and her plans to go to university are in danger. But Sepideh holds on to her dream! She takes up the fight and teams up with the world's first female space tourist, Anousheh Ansari.
- DirectorUmut DagStarsNihal G. KoldasBegüm AkkayaVedat ErincinAyse is wed to Hasan, the handsome son of house-proud mother Fatma. Ayse is whisked away to Vienna where she soon finds that the marriage is a sham and she is to be the second wife to Fatma's husband.
- DirectorZiad DoueiriStarsRami DoueiriNaamar SahliMohamad ChamasIn April, 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a Moslem-Christian line. Tarek is in high school, making Super 8 movies with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: school has closed, the violence is fascinating, getting from West to East is a game. His mother wants to leave; his father refuses. Tarek spends time with May, a Christian, orphaned and living in his building. By accident, Tarek goes to an infamous brothel in the war-torn Olive Quarter, meeting its legendary madam, Oum Walid. He then takes Omar and May there using her underwear as a white flag for safe passage. Family tensions rise. As he comes of age, the war moves inexorably from adventure to tragedy.
- DirectorAhmad AbdallaStarsKal NagaYousra El LozyHany AdelKhaled returns from USA to his mother's funeral at his hometown: Alexandria, Egypt. He decides to make it a fresh new start even if it meant mending his first love story yet it proved a horrific failure. Khaled clashed big time with a changing more conservative Alexandria but He also stumbles upon fresh youth struggling for their under-ground music bands, art and ideas. in the middle of all the confusion, Will it ever all makes sense at the end? A question for the youth and the city to answer.
- DirectorAhmad AbdallaStarsKal NagaMaged El-KidwaniHouria FarghallyDecor is about "choices" we make in life. Can one major choice haunt us to the extent of wishing to imagine or live our alternate options of such choice? Decor is an incredible journey down that rabbit hole.
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsPayman MaadiLeila HatamiSareh BayatA married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
- DirectorKhaled El HagarStarsSawsan BadrRubiAhmed AzmiIn Alexandria, Fatmah learns that her youngest son needs weekly dialysis, which requires 300 pounds. She does not have enough money for that. She travels to Cairo to beg far from her home city. After she collects enough money, she returns to discover the son's death. She decides to protect her two daughters, Shoq and Awatef, from poverty, so she returns to Cairo, continuing to beg.
- DirectorNaji Abu NowarStarsJacir Eid Al-HwietatHussein Salameh Al-SweilhiyeenHassan Mutlag Al-MaraiyehIn the Ottoman province of Hijaz during World War I, a young Bedouin boy experiences a greatly hastened coming-of-age as he embarks on a perilous desert journey to guide a British officer to his secret destination.
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsIbrahim AhmedAbel JafriToulou KikiA cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed.
- DirectorEran RiklisStarsHiam AbbassMakram KhouryClara KhouryIn Majdal Shams, the largest Druze village in Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian border, the Druze bride Mona is engaged to get married with Tallel, a television comedian that works in the Revolution Studios in Damascus, Syria. They have never met each other because of the occupation of the area by Israel since 1967; when Mona moves to Syria, she will lose her undefined nationality and will never be allowed to return home. Mona's father Hammed is a political activist pro-Syria that is on probation by the Israeli government. His older son Hatten married a Russian woman eight years ago and was banished from Majdal Shams by the religious leaders and his father. His brother Marwan is a wolf trader that lives in Italy. His sister Amal has two teenager daughters and has the intention to join the university, but her marriage with Amin is in crisis. When the family gathers for Mona's wedding, an insane bureaucracy jeopardizes the ceremony.
- DirectorMohamed BualiStarsIbrahim Al-HasawiOmar AlsaeediHayfa HussainA daughter's relationship with Mother Nature could change the course of a family driven apart...
- DirectorNawaf Al JanahiStarsOmar Al MullaNeven MadiAbrar Al HamadThe film follows Emirati 16 year-old Mansoor and Kaltham as they struggle with traditions and conventions on their journey towards adulthood. Bound by family and deeply rooted values, the pair must find the courage to forge their paths.
- DirectorWael MandourYousry NasrallahStarsMona ZakiMahmoud HemidaHasan El-RaddadA female talk show host in Cairo stirs up political controversy when she focuses her on-air discussions on the topic of women's issues.
- DirectorMicah SmithStarsRaheel RazaRaquel Evita SaraswatiJuliana TaimoorazySeveral Muslim women activists discuss their stories and the state of women's rights in Muslim-majority nations.
- DirectorShannon FarhoudMelanie FridgantRana KhaledMusic and politics often go hand in hand and as pro-democracy revolutions spread throughout the Arab world, one sound in particular is echoing the hopes, dreams, frustrations of the people. Arab Hip-Hop, once relegated to the sidelines, has emerged as the soundtrack of the resistance. To capture this transformative time in one of the most dynamic regions of the world, Torath Production created a documentary that features the leading Arab hip-hop musicians around the world. It looks at the role Arab Hip-Hop plays in this game-changing moment for the Middle East. At the same time, such universal themes as the role of women in music and cultural clashes between conservative and secular artists will also be explored as each musician shares his/her story.
- DirectorAtef SalemStarsSamira AhmedImad HamdiHasan YoussefHusain is the head of a large Egyptian family, who has problems managing the cost of the marriage of his eldest daughter. He decides to take some amount from his financial trust in the company where he works with the intention of refunding later. In this context, the film shows the social life of the Egyptian family at the time.
- DirectorHussein KamalStarsMagda El-KhatibAdel AdhamAhmed Al JaziriSet against the backdrop of the 1967 Six-Day War, the movie adaptation of Naguib Mahfouz's novel follows the escapist, drug-fuelled riverboat meetings of a group of frustrated Egyptians from various walks of life.
- DirectorTarek AlarianStarsAhmed El SakkaHanan TurkAmr WakedThis Egyptian action film is about Tito (Ahmad Al Saqa), who was sentenced to 16 years in jail after a burglary when he was a kid. After he gets out, he goes back to crime with a corrupt police officer (Khaled Saleh), but also befriends Fares (Amr Waked), and the two open up a unique restaurant. Fares introduces Tito to Nour (Hanan Turk), a physician, and they fall in love, and Tito tries to leave his life of crime.
- DirectorYoussef ChahineStarsYoussraKhaled NabawyMahmoud HemidaRam leaves the nomadic life and embarks on a quest for knowledge in a pharaonic Egypt mired in political intrigue. Based on a biblical story.
- DirectorDaoud Abdel SayedStarsMahmoud Abdel AzizSherif MounirAida RiyadSheikh Hosny is a blind man who lives with his old mother and his frustrated son in the Kit Kat neighborhood. His son Youssef dreams of going to Europe to find work, and has a relationship with a divorced woman named Fatima. Sheikh Hosny refuses to admit his handicap and dreams of riding a motorcycle like every sighted person, he also spends his nights smoking marijuana with the locals in order to forget his miseries after the loss of his wife and selling his father's house. He knows everything about his neighbors and their secrets and love affairs.
- DirectorOsama FawzyStarsLayla OlwiMahmoud HemidaMenna ShalabiA child who loves the cinema struggles with his fanatic dad who finds everything ,including cinema, a sin, with the help of his mother who is sexually depressed.