Oscars FYC: From Ground Zero (2024)
★★★☆☆
Oscars 2025: From Ground Zero compiled by Rashid Masharawi is a compilation of short films showing everyday life in a destroyed Gaza.
Middle East
BFI London Film Festival 2024: Aïcha (2023)
★★★☆☆
Aïcha, directed by Mehdi Barsaoui, is a gripping, thrilling study of the evolution of a young woman as she tries to find a new life and new identity after being assumed dead, amid endemic corruption in Tunisia.
BFI LFF 2024: Who Do I Belong To (2024) (Mé el Aïn)
★★★☆☆
Who Do I Belong To, an unsettlingly topical first feature by Meryam Joobeur, looks at identity in a post-ISIS world and sets out to challenge perceptions and prejudices.
VENICE 2024: Aïcha (2024)
★★★☆☆
Aïcha, directed by Mehdi Barsaoui, is a thrilling study of a young woman’s life amid endemic corruption in Tunisia, as she tries to find a new life and new identity.
Venice 2024: The Witness (2024) (Shahed)
★★★★☆
The Witness, directed by Nader Saeivar and co-written with Jafar Panahi, uses women and dance to tell the story of contemporary Iran.
Mandoob (Night Courier) (2023)
★★★★☆
Mehdoob (Night Courier) directed by Ali Kalthami is a sophisticated thriller about a hapless delivery driver caught in societal change in Saudi Arabia.
A House in Jerusalem (2023)
★★★☆☆
Palestinian filmmakers Muyad and Rami Alayan prick and prod Israel’s conscience about dispossession in A House in Jerusalem.
Tiger Stripes (2023)
★★★★☆
Tiger Stripes is a compelling coming-of-age body horror, the first feature by Amanda Nell Eu.
Nezouh (2022)
★★★★☆
Nezouh by Soudade Kaadan is a teenage coming-of-age story of finding hope in devastated war-torn Syria.
Jeanne du Barry (2023)
★★★☆☆
Jeanne du Barry, which opened the Cannes Film Festival 2023, is co-written, directed and starred in by Maïwenn, also starring Johnny Depp, in a glossy historical French biopic.
If Only I Could Hibernate (2023)
★★★☆☆
If Only I Could Hibernate written, directed and produced by Zoljargal Purevdash is an involving, behind-the-scenes look at pressing issues in Mongolia, with an ecological message, seen through the life of an endearing teenager.
Banel & Adama (2023)
★★★☆☆
Lusciously beautiful: the doomed romance in Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s poetic debut feature Banel & Adama takes place amid the severe effects of climate change in remote northeastern Senegal.
Four Daughters (2023) (Les Filles d’Olfa)
★★★★★
Four Daughters is a powerful and emotionally compelling mixture of documentary and drama directed by Kaouther Ben Hania that examines the roots of fundamentalism and how women pass on self-imposed repression through the generations.
Berlinale 2024: Who Do I Belong To (2024) (Mé el Aïn)
★★★☆☆
Who Do I Belong To, an unsettlingly topical first feature by Meryam Joobeur, looks at identity in a post-ISIS world and sets out to challenge perceptions and prejudices.