Arab cinema
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Tunisia's Oscar shortlist
"Under The Fig Trees" and modern rural youth
Erige Sehiri, director of "Under The Fig Trees", shortlisted to represent Tunisia at the Oscars next year, says she hopes the award-winning drama film will smash the cliche that rural women are "miserable and closed"
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Cairo Conspiracy a.k.a. Boy From Heaven
Al-Azhar, a Catholic monastery...and the Dalai Lama
Palme d’Or winner "Boy from Heaven" is a classic crossover film in which cultural elements are mixed together in haphazard and random fashion. Shady Lewis Botros bemoans the director’s use of various formulaic and cliche-ridden templates dominant in global mass culture
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Queer Film Festival in Tunisia
Between fear and courage
With queer people facing widespread discrimination in Tunisia, the Mawjoudin Queer Film Festival will kick off in the country's capital Tunis on 22 September in a semi-public setting. Sarah Mersch reports
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Cancelling "The Lady of Heaven"
Why the fuss over the Prophet's daughter?
Written by the controversial Kuwaiti Shia preacher, Yasser Habib, the film's plot pursues two threads: one from the Islamic past, the other from the present. The narratives meet when Islamic State seizes vast areas of Iraqi territory. By Shady Lewis Botros
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Egypt's Ramadan series "El-Ekhteyar 3"
At Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's expense
In the third series of "El-Ekhteyar", actor Yasser Galal delivers a remarkable performance in the role of Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, attracting admiration and ridicule in equal measure. By Shady Lewis Botros
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Filming Lebanon’s all-women metal band "Slave to Sirens"
Heavy metal combats the Beirut blues
U.S. filmmaker Rita Baghdadi’s film following an all-female Lebanese metal band is well worth a watch. It’s the story of five fascinating young women embarking on their careers as their country falls apart. By Rene Wildangel
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Afghanistan documentary "Melting Dreams"
A tale of Afghan-European failure
Haidy Kancler’s documentary "Melting Dreams" celebrated its world premiere at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in February 2022. The film follows the fortunes of three young female skiers from Afghanistan who travel to Europe for professional training. Their hopes are running high, but the trip ends in disaster. Rene Wildangel reports for Qantara.de
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"Break norms, find freedom"
Indie film "Warsha" tackles Arab gender taboo
Lebanese director Dania Bdeir, who has just scooped up the Sundance Film Festival's award for best international short film, says she wants her short to "break the norms" on sexuality and gender in the Middle East.
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The world through Tala's eyes
"Tala'vision" – sadly poetic
Winner of the Student Oscar: a little girl in a bombed-out flat in Syria. The television is her only window to the world – but even this is taken away from her. Nikolas Fischer watched the impressive film
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Netflix launches Palestinian film collection
"We want our stories to travel"
On 14 October 2021, streaming giant Netflix expanded its service to include films either produced by Palestinians or with a Palestinian theme. "Palestinian Stories" comprises 32 award-winning movies available to viewers all round the world
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Human Rights Film Festival Berlin – raising awareness
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Human Rights Film Festival Berlin – raising awareness
This year's HRFFB returned as a hybrid on- & offline festival. For 10 days, the festival showcased stories from all over the world, addressing and reflecting on human action, the socio-political status quo and fundamental issues such as democracy, justice, freedom and environmental protection.