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
Abouna (2002)
6.7/10
Director: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Starring: Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa, Zara Haroun, Hamza Moctar Aguid
A.k.a. "Our Father". Set in the director's native Chad, the sensuous "Abouna" begins with the striking image of a man in Western dress crossing a dese... Read more
Ten (2002)
7.5/10
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Starring: Mania Akbari
Aka "10". A perceptive and revealing portrait of contemporary Iran set in Tehran, "Ten" begins with a beautiful and articulate female driver (Mania Ak... 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
A Time for Drunken Horses (2001)
7.7/10
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Starring: Ayoub Ahmadi, Rojin Younessi
Lyrical, emotional and bleak drama about several siblings of a poverty stricken Kurdish family desperately trying to find funding for the treatment of... Read more
Kandahar (2001)
6.8/10
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Starring: Nelofer Pazira, Hassan Tantai, Sadou Teymouri, Hoyatala Hakimi
Nafas, a young Afghan journalist now living in Canada recieves a desperate letter from her sister in Afghanistan who intends to kill herself at the ne... Read more
Kippur (2000)
6.4/10
Director: Amos Gitai
Starring: Liron Levo, Tomer Russo
The film takes place in 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, in which Egypt and Syria launched attacks in Sinai and the Golan Heights. Although the story... Read more
Blackboards (2000)
7/10
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Starring: Bahman Ghobadi, Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari
In the brutal mountains of the Iran/Iraq border, two nomadic teachers, Reeboir and Said, roam the landscape in search of pupils. They carry their blac... Read more
The Day I Became a Woman (2000)
7.3/10
Director: Marziyeh Meshkini
Starring: Fatemeh Cheragh, Akhar, Shabnam Toloui, Azizeh Sedighi
Marziyeh Meshkini's compelling and poignant study of the elementary problems faced by women in Eastern societies looks at three different generations... Read more
The Color of Paradise (1999)
8.2/10
Director: Majid Majidi
Starring: Mohsen Ramezani
This beautifully rendered film centers on an 8-year-old blind boy named Mohammad whose poor, widowed father has no interest in raising him. After he's... Read more
The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
7.6/10
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
A few people arrive from Tehran for a short stay at Siah Dareh, a village in Iranian Kurdistan. The locals do not know why they are there. The strange... Read more