Dune in 2024: A World Beyond Saving
The meta-narrative in Frank Herbert's Dune trilogy foresees the modern disaster of never-ending colonialism and a planet destroyed by oil.
Film
Creating Community with Community Theatre
A community theatre company working in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine empowers women who often are not professional actors.
Asmae El Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies
Brittany Landorf reviews the first major film of director Asmae El Moudir, Morocco’s entry for the 2024 Academy Awards.
The Elephant in the Box
Revisiting her memories of Egypt's January 25 revolution, Asmaa Elgamal finds that denying common sense is the worst oppression.
Hollywoodgate—New Doc Captures the Post-American Taliban
Iason Athanasiadis reviews a documentary of an Egyptian's observations of the first year of the Taliban's new regime.
Bani Khoshnoudi: Featured Artist for PARIS
Bani Khoshnoudi's work is often inhabited by displacement and uprooting, explore themes of exile, modernity and its violences, memory and the invisible.
Israeli & Palestinian Filmmakers Accused of Anti-semitism at Berlinale
Viola Shafik addresses the controversy at the 2024 Berlinale, following the screening of a Palestinian-Israeli "solidarity film."
Human Rights Films on Ownership of History, Women’s Bodies & Paintings
Malu Halasa offers an overview of three Middle Eastern films screening at the 2024 Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London.
The Oath of Cyriac: Recovery or Spin?
In Olivier Bourgeois' docudrama "The Oath of Cyriac," professionals and volunteers race to preserve the Aleppo collection.
Don’t Ask me to Reveal my Lover’s Name لا تسألوني ما اسمهُ حبيبي
Mohammad Shawky Hassan reflects on the original story that informed the making of "Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day?” two years after its world premiere.
A Century of Sergei Parajanov: Conjurer of Cinematic Worlds
William Gourlay revisits the works of Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, who created cinematic moments from across Europe, the Caucasus and Western Asia.
Religious Misogyny Personified in Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider
Bavand Karim reviews the film "Holy Spider" by Ali Abbassi which coldly deconstructs the brutal nature of Iran’s religious patriarchy.
Sofia Alaoui’s Animalia is a Supernatural Thriller Shot in Morocco
As she nears the end of her pregnancy, Itto and her in-laws find their lives turned upside down by a supernatural event.
The Soil and the Sea: The Revolutionary Act of Remembering
Daniele Rugo's documentary investigates Lebanon's devastating civil war and ruminates on the conflict's unmarked mass graves.
We Saw Paris, Texas—a story by Ola Mustapha
In Ola Mustapha's new story, a man falls for the seduction of a film and it becomes the blueprint for love, life, and even death.