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
Bamako (2006)
6.8/10
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako
Starring: Danny Glover, Aissa Maiga, Tiecoura Traore
An audacious blend of documentary and dramatic segments from filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, this indictment of global economic policy towards Africa... Read more
Theeb (2014)
7.2/10
In 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 dese... Read more
Baran (2001)
7.8/10
Director: Majid Majidi
Starring: Hossein Abedini, Mohammad Amir Naji, Zahra Bahrami, Hossein Rahimi, Hossein Mahj...
From the acclaimed director of "Children of Heaven" comes the uplifting tale of the relationship between 17-year-old worker Lateef and the illegally... Read more
The Debt (2007)
6.9/10
Director: Assaf Bernstein
Starring: Oleg Drach, Gila Almagor
In the original Israeli thriller that inspired a 2011 Hollywood remake, three Mossad operatives track down and capture a Nazi war criminal in 1965, on... Read more
The Apple (1998)
7.3/10
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Starring: Massoumeh Naderi, Zahra Naderi, Azizeh Mohamadi
Based on a true incident and using the family involved, this unique film tells a bizarre but engaging story. In Tehran, two twin daughters live as vir... Read more
This is Not a Film (2011)
7.5/10
Director: Jafar Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Starring: Jafar Panahi
This clandestine documentary, shot partially on an iPhone and smuggled into France in a cake for a last-minute submission to Cannes, depicts the day-t... Read more
Caramel (2007)
7.1/10
Director: Nadine Labaki
Starring: Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Elmasri, Joanna Moukarzel, Gisele Aouad, Adel Karam, Siha...
A Beirut beauty salon serves as a microcosm of modern society in director Nadine Labaki's look at liberated conversation in a conflicted society, as f... 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
Stray Dogs (2004)
7.2/10
Director: Marziyeh Meshkini
Marziyeh Meshkini's beautifully crafted and moving insight into post-Taliban Afghanistan follows the fortunes of a young brother and sister and the di... Read more
Homeland (2013)
6.2/10
Director: Mohamed Hamidi
Starring: Tewfik Jallab, Jamel Debbouze
A.k.a. "Né quelque part". 26-year-old law student Farid has lived in France his whole life. When his father falls ill and sends him to Algeria to save... Read more