African & Middle Eastern
Alice has precious few (but building) films from the Middle East and even fewer from the vast continent of Africa.
Middle Eastern films are often highly politicised, bringing subjects to the attention of audiences that would otherwise know little about them. Film makers are often dealing with various forms of political and social oppression and even armed conflicts to bring their stories to light. Exotic scenery, allegorical storytelling and close-up exposure to cultural norms, so different from our own, bring a kind of immersion only rivalled by being there.
To find a title from a specific country use the By Country link on the left.
Pictured: A Time for Drunken Horses
Gaia (2021)
5.6/10
An injured forest ranger on a routine mission is saved by two off-the-grid survivalists. What is initially a welcome rescue grows more suspicious as t... Read more
The Match (2020)
6/10
Starring: Franco Nero, Caspar Phillipson, Armand Assante
Inspired by true events from the spring of 1944 when the Nazis organized a football match between a team of camp inmates and an elite Nazi team on Ado... Read more
Incitement (2019)
7/10
Director: Yaron Zilberman
Details the year leading to the assassination of Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), from the point of view of the assassin. A psycho... Read more
Rafiki (2018)
6.6/10
"Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives," but Kena and Ziki long for something more. When love blossoms between them, the two girls will be forced... Read more
Working Woman (2018)
7/10
Starring: Liron Ben-Shlush, Menashe Noy, Oshri Cohen
Life at work becomes unbearable for Orna. Her boss appreciates and promotes her, while making inappropriate advances. Her husband struggles to keep hi... Read more
Capharnaum / Capernaum (2018)
Director: Nadine Labaki
Starring: Zain Al Rafeea, Nadine Labaki
After running away from his negligent parents, committing a violent crime and being sentenced to five years in jail, a hardened, streetwise 12-year-ol... Read more
The Insult (L'insulte) (2017)
7.7/10
Starring: Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha, Rita Hayek
A minor incident between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee turns into an explosive trial that ends up dividing the two communities. Read more
Foxtrot (2017)
7.5/10
Director: Samuel Maoz
Starring: Sarah Adler, Lior Ashkenazi, Yonaton Shiray, Shira Haas
A troubled family must face the facts when something goes terribly wrong at their son's desolate military post. Read more
The Salesman (2016)
7.8/10
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Babak Karimi, Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini
Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and his wife Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) are actors in an amateur Tehran production of Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman. When... Read more
The Idol (2015)
6.7/10
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Starring: Tawfeek Barhom, Kais Attalah, Hiba Attalah
Mohammad Assaf is a young man with grand aspirations. A wedding singer from a refugee camp, he dreams of singing in the famed Cairo Opera House before... Read more