The Congress (2013)
★★★★☆
A moving meditation on corporate commerciality in a dystopian future, The Congress is a remarkable film bursting with ambition, imagination and emotion.
Middle East
When I Saw You/Lamma Shoftak (2014)
★★★☆☆
Annemarie Jacir’s When I Saw You takes an optimistic look at the late 1960s Palestinian refugee crisis, but asks more questions than it answers.
Omar (2013)
★★☆☆☆
In spite of its intriguing political backdrop, Omar is a disappointing film which relies too heavily on tired old cliches
Cupcakes / Bananot (2013)
★★★☆☆
Baking up Israel’s lighter side in this goofy Eurovision parody, Eytan Fox’s Cupcakes is a sweet celebration of the power of camp.
Fill The Void (2012)
★★★☆☆
Love and marriage inside a Jewish orthodox family, Rama Burshtein’s Fill The Void puts womanhood centre-stage in this moody relationship drama.
Wadjda (2012)
★★★★☆
In Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda, an enterprising Saudi schoolgirl enters her school’s Koran recitation competition to raise money to buy a forbidden bicycle.
Out In The Dark / Alata (2012)
★★★★☆
Defusing the Israeli–Palestinian conflict with a love that dares to cross borders, Michael Mayer’s Out In The Dark is a powerful and intensely moving tale of underground romance.
Five Broken Cameras (2011)
★★★★☆
Documenting life on Palestine’s front lines, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi’s 5 Broken Cameras sees a man with a movie camera uncovering the ethics of filmmaking.
The Time That Remains (2009)
★★★☆☆
A pizzicato sonata of absurd rituals, Elia Suleiman’s The Time That Remains unpicks a lifetime stifling inside the Green Lines. It’s more than just plucking at strings.
Lebanon (2009)
★★★★☆
One day inside an Israeli tank during the First Lebanon War, Samuel Maoz’s Lebanon is much more than an ear-splitting anti-war film for the X-Box generation.
Eyes Wide Open (2009)
★★★★★
Forbidden desire in Jerusalem’s orthodox community, the love affair between two Haredi Jews raises eyebrows in Haim Tabakman’s Eyes Wide Open. And razes the temple.