AFIDOCS 2021: Arty Chick’s Download
This year was a distance festival. There were opportunities to be in the theaters in DC, but I chose to watch everything online from afar, on my couch. That’s a…
Review: The Perfect Candidate
Saudi Arabian cinema has a very short history. The first feature shot there was only in 2012! And it was written and directed by a woman, Haifaa Al-Mansour. Since then…
Review: There is No Evil
Shot in secret and smuggled out of Iran, There is No Evil is a four-part film centered on capital punishment and its effect on the men who are forced to…
Review: Tel Aviv on Fire
You might not think that there's much humor to be found in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Palestinian director Sameh Zoabi has crafted a very amiable farce that spans the borders…
Quickie Review: Girls of the Sun
In our #Girlpower era, a film about battalion of Kurdish women fighting ISIS in North Kurdistan should be a slam dunk. But somewhere between idea and execution Girls of the…
Review: Capernaum (Capharnaüm)
"Capernaum in French is used usually in French literature to signify chaos, to signify hell, disorder," according to Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki, director of this emotionally wrenching film. At the center…
Review: The Insult (L’insulte)
Since most of what we're fed about the Middle East is about war and strife, it's always good to see a film about regular people set there. And since Lebanon…
Review: Clash
This is an edge of your seat sort of film. It takes place in Egypt after the Arab Spring, after the Muslim Brotherhood has been thrown out of the government…