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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

Exils (2004)

Director: Tony Gatlif
Starring: Romain Duris, Lubna Azabal, Leila Makhlouf

Tony Gatlif's 'Exils', is an exuberant, free-wheeling, heartfelt journey swimming like a salmon against the traditional migrant tide of the Franco-Alg... Read more

Climates (2006)

7.3/10
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Starring: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Internationally acclaimed writer-director Nuri Bilge Ceylan's sublime follow-up to his Cannes multi-award winner 'Distant'. Beautifully drawn and meti... Read more

Yesterday (2004)

7.8/10
Director: Darrell Roodt
Starring: Leleti Khumalo, Kenneth Khambula, Lihle Mvelase, Harriet Lenabe, Camilla Walker

The first major feature film to be made entirely in the Zulu language, writer/director Darrell Roodt returned to his homeland to tell a truly African... Read more

Strangers (2009)

6.9/10
Director: Guy Nattiv, Erez Tadmor
Starring: Patrick Albenque, Lubna Azabal, Liron Levo, Dominique Lollia

When two travellers mistakenly exchange baggage on the Berlin U-Bahn during the 2006 World Cup, little do they know the effect it will have on their l... Read more

Tehran Taxi (2015)

Director: Jafar Panahi
Starring: Jafar Panahi

The great Iranian director Jafar Panahi (Offside, The Circle) has never let being barred from filmmaking stop him. For the third time since the ban wa... Read more

Lebanon (2009)

6.9/10
Director: Samuel Maoz
Starring: Oshri Cohen, Yoav Donat, Michael Moshonov, Italy Tiran

This harrowing drama from Israel looks at the 1982 Lebanon War through the eyes of four young Israeli soldiers, trapped inside a tank bound for the Le... Read more

Yeelen (1987)

Director: Souleymane Cisse
Starring: Balla Moussa Keita, Issiaka Kane, Soumba Traoure

Conceivably one of the finest films to come out of Africa, this stunning adaptation of an oral legend from Mali is set amidst the powerful Mali Empire... Read more

The Little Traitor (2007)

7/10
Director: Lynn Roth
Starring: Alfred Molina, Ido Port, Theodore Bikel, Rami Heuberger, Gilya Stern

1947, and Palestine is on the brink of becoming the independent state of Israel. Still occupied by the British, tensions run high between the occupyin... Read more

Ulysses' Gaze (1995)

7.6/10
Director: Theo Angelopoulos
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Erland Josephson, Maia Morgenstern

Recounts the odyssey of an American filmmaker (Harvey Keitel) who returns to his Greek hometown after 35 years to pursue a dream of finding three reel... Read more

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

7/10
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Starring: Mozhan Marno, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Sheila Vand

Ana Lily Amirpour's debut is set in the fictitious locale of Bad City, in which The Girl, a sassy loner who roams the streets on a skateboard she stol... Read more