A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Reviews of films from Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and countries of the Arabian Peninsula.
Diljana Gaytandzhieva, “Diplomatic Viruses” (Al Mayadeen, 2018) Bulgarian journalist Diljana Gaytandzhieva gained fame early in 2018 for uncovering and reporting on shipments of weapons from EU…
Jenan Moussa, “Undercover in Idlib” (2017) Presented and narrated by Jenan Moussa, a reporter for Al Aan TV in Dubai, this 22-minute documentary on the situation…
Nima Sarvestani, “Those Who Said No” (2015) A very polished film, complete with stereotypical mournful droning music in parts, this Iranian / Swedish documentary follows proceedings…
Ziad Doueiri, “The Insult” (2018) On one level, this Lebanese film illustrates the power of an utterance to inflame hidden animosities and escalate them (in a…
Latin American Films (non-Spanish / non-Portuguese), Middle Eastern Films
Abby Martin, “Empire Files: Israelis Speak Candidly About Palestinians” (October 2017) Abby Martin is an American journalist who hosts an ongoing current affairs show The Empire…
Vahid Jalilvand, “No Date, No Signature” (2017) A chance encounter between two characters who would never have met otherwise becomes an examination of class conflict in…
Samuel Maoz, “Foxtrot” (2017) Divided into three parts, with the first and third parts dominated by the same actors and sharing the same setting (an apartment),…
Middle Eastern Films, North American Films
“The Jimmy Dore Show: Interview with Carla Ortiz” (23 April, 2018) A most unexpected surprise from what I would have considered the least likely medium surfaced…
Ali Asgari, “The Baby / Bacheh” (2014) In the space of 16 minutes, we’re drawn into a gritty world of urban bleakness and desperation that is…
French and French-language Films, Middle Eastern Films
Ari Folman, “The Congress” (2013) Partly based on Stanislaw Lem’s novel “The Futurological Congress”, in which the central character suffers from both delusional and actual mental…