Discoveries from Saudi Arabia World Cinema

Doc For Village in Taif

The film is about an experiment gone wrong!

With her abusive husband in jail and a coveted divorce pending, hardworking Noura can almost grasp a happy, new life with lover Lassaad — but when the best-laid plans are upended, Noura must tap her unshakable will to fulfill her dream.

Two lonely people at opposite chapters of life accidentally meet on a busy summer day in a Cairo taxi. Frail old Shawky and bubbly young Doaa are both caught up in their busy routines as their race through the city evolves into a journey of self-discovery that reconnects them to life.

A Palestinian seeks Israeli permission to waive curfew to give his son a fine wedding. The military governor's condition is that he and his officers attend. The groom berates his father for agreeing. Women ritually prepare the bride; men prepare the groom. Guests gather. The Arab youths plot violence. One Israeli officer swoons in the heat and Arab women take her into the cool house. A thoroughbred gets loose and runs to a mined field; soldiers and Arabs must cooperate to rescue it. As darkness falls, tensions between army and villagers rise, and the groom's wedding-night anger and impotence threaten family dignity and honor. Can cool heads prevail?

The film is a police story centered on the character of "Ould Hamriya", a young man who lived a difficult childhood and a social situation that led him to the professionalism of theft and robbery of luxury villas with two partners, which created confusion among the security men who became after him everywhere

(Nahid) is a waitress from an average family,after she gets divorced,she tries to overcome her loneliness by looking for a new love. Her colleague (Salma) is attracted to (Hassona) the assistant director,who had the opportunity to direct a music video,so he turns to (Salma) to be in the clip.

Tarek and his mother Ghaydaa number among the tens of thousands of refugees crossing the border from Palestine, having been separated from Tarek's father amidst the chaos of the Six Day War. They ultimately settle at the Harir refugee camp, a makeshift home for a new generation displaced by conflict. Tarek dreams of being reunited with his father, and struggles to adapt to a new life far away from all he previously knew.

Three protagonists, one city, different backgrounds: Nour, India and Marwan pass each other but they never meet, though the effect of one incident will drastically alter their lives. Caught in a moment, their lives fall apart in just a matter of seconds.

A sarcastic mashup of several genres to deliver a simple incident between a group of guys.

Sparked by the true story of Aya, a four-year-old Jordanian girl killed by her father because he believed her to be possessed, filmmaker Dalia Al Kury launches a fascinating investigation into a controversial and little-known aspect of Islamic culture: belief in djinn. The djinn are believed to be supernatural creatures that occupy a parallel world to ours and their emergence is associated with sexuality, political unrest, poverty and mental illness. The taboo subject of demonic possession remains broadly unresolved in the hearts and minds of some Muslims due to its complex and uncomfortable nature. Using a subjective, “undercover” style, Al Kury journeys into the obscure world of exorcists and the possessed, confronting their traditions and rituals. It makes for a telling ghost story that bares the filmmaker’s and her society’s subconscious underbelly.

Nasser, an unexceptional washout, is diagnosed with a brain tumor when he meets an enigmatic and peculiar young woman. Infatuated by her and sick of being a failure, he must quickly figure out what he wants to do in life before he goes through a risky surgery, and reach out to the young woman with the most seductive way there is .. a song.

Story about the adventures and the friendship of two Japanese-Malaysian boys.

A young man is sitting in boredom on the side of an endless road. After a while, he decides to go after something with a lot of determination. Is he going to get what he wants?

Exploring the relationship between man and place by following the paths of six characters in contemporary Alexandria.

Presents the various stages in the production of wool and its transformation into yarn to make clothes, against the rhythm of the sound of the machines.

After turning thirty, Gmilla's dreams of emigrating abroad have collapsed. She meets Youssef who is also thinking of traveling and they make a pact that they will help each other to emigrate more easily. But the plan goes in an unexpected direction.

Salem, a Saudi engineer, pretends to be an Italian expert to work at a big company, exploiting the foreigner's advantage. He finds himself entangled with a dangerous gang. Will he be able to get out of this predicament and return to his true identity?

Saeed Abu Doma dreams of acting, and to become a well-known artist, and after arriving in Cairo he begins to search for a casting office to help him reach his dream, but after failing to achieve his goal, he resorts to work in a nightclub and get to know a prostitute.

After completing his studies and returning home, Adil settled in the city of Ifrane and works as a professor of art education, but the ghost of the girl he had previously known and abandoned He's been follow him.

Award winning short documentary by Ibrahim Snoopy, tracks the journey of the MTC martial arts team, which decides after a civil revolution that occurred in Sudan (2018-2019). Facing of lack of the state support and weak financial means, ambitious athletes found themselves forced to travel by land from Sudan to Kenya through Ethiopia to participate in an international championship "LionHeart 2019 Nairobi Open" in Nairobi, Kenya. A journey filled with determination, resilience, hope, and full of difficulties and challenges in order to raise the name of Sudan high in international sports forums and to solidify the art of Jiu-Jitsu in Africa.

A sprawling, masterful depiction of a day in the life of Algiers by arguably Algeria’s greatest living filmmaker, Merzak Allouache.

Hussein is a terminally ill yet charming architect who enjoys a solitary routine in his old family home, and a variety of female visitors. Not realizing his past is about to catch up with him, Hussein's sister and her grandson move into the house, disrupting a well-established lifestyle, and forcing him to re-examine his ideas about life, love, and family.

Taqasim, shot in the streets of Cairo, is a voyage to the hidden treasures of Arabic music and to the participation of Jewish musicians. With stylishly shot music and unforgettable back-ally jams played by Felix Mizrachi, Zehava Ben, Abraham Salman and others, this film brings classical Arabic music raw and captivating.

Prince is leading a drug trafficking ring. He controls the gang members through a weakness in each of them. He plans to beat Fifa, who is an airline hostess and loves one of his assistants to smuggle a shipment of drugs. Rushdie really loves her and tries to rescue her. , And marry.

English reporter and documentarian, James Jones, in partnership with brave rebel Saudi Arabian undercover reporters, risk themselves under the laws of the land under the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), sometimes referred to the Islamic Religious Police. All this, in an effort to uncover the purpose and truth of the laws enforced by the immensely questioned Saudi Arabian government. You will see the side of Saudi Arabia that its government forbids from recording or viewing by their law and discover the harsh punishment for disobedience in the modern Saudi Arabia world.

The story of the Haram in Makkah, a place so revered that non-Muslims are forbidden from even setting foot in it. Every year millions of pilgrims come from all over the world to visit this holy city.

The film revolves around a doctor who refuses to marry because she is looking for the right man for her, and when she finds him, she challenges everyone to marry him, but discovers that he is hiding an interesting truth.

As Amira and Ashraf prepare for their wedding, Ashraf invites his friends to his bachelor's party where a major event turns his life upside down.

Writer, director, and journalist Jawad Rhalib presents a timely exploration of Muslim identity in relation to artistic expression and harmful stereotypes, through archival footage, interviews, and evocative performances.

The film follows Manal, a young girl living in the poor town of Dar Elsalam in Cairo. After she graduates from a commerce secondary school, she decides to find a job and live individually. When a firnd offers her a job as a maid in an old man's house, her life turns upside down after the man sexually assaults her, and she finds herself forced to marry him.

Like many young people around the world, best friends Fawzi and Mahmoud are obsessed with soccer. But for the past several years, the teenagers have been stuck in Zaatari, the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, located in Jordan. With uncertain legal status and an interrupted education, their prospects are limited. On the local soccer pitch, however, they can imagine a brighter future as professional athletes, a path to escaping the camp and providing for their families. When scouts from a world-renowned Qatari sports academy visit Zaatari, Fawzi and Mahmoud believe they might be able to realize their dreams—if given the opportunity.

A medical student forges his qualifications to pass as a doctor and must endure the lethal consequences that threaten to ruin the greatest moment of his life.

A mechanic travels abroad and is abducted by a drug trafficker.

Mustapha, a young Moroccan living on small shots, meets a couple of Spanish tourists. The latter dragged him into a heavy traffic of hashish. Forced to flee his country, he finds himself on a makeshift boat, among other men. They are determined to clandestinely reach the Spanish shores in the hope of a bright future.

A 10-year-old boy accidentally kicks his football into a cemetery at night, and has to go get it back.

The film is a tale of authentic Moroccan heritage, which tells the story of a poor family made up of Father Salem, known as "Zatat", who accompanies and guards commercial convoys from bandits. Due to the intensity of the father's attachment to his three daughters and his fear for them, he stopped working and stayed with them. But one day, he had to travel, the father’s news disappeared, and the three sisters believed that he had perished. Aouisha, the youngest daughter, professes deception to take care of her two sisters, and each time the sovereign "Moulay Abid" confronts her with a holster of the monument, she escapes him because of his excessive intelligence and his insight.

In the 70s, Ali, Rabiaa, Driss, Abdellah and Hamid are a group of friends grow up in a heavy world of drugs, pop, politics ans sex. Rabiaa is a local girl whom they all share whenever the urge comes. Ali, accidentally kills a policeman and sent to prison. When he is released 20 years later, the group is just a memory. Ali relives the past and faces up the today's different reality with its disillusions ans responsibilities.

Beirut, on an autumn day. The city is on the edge of chaos, but for Maya, Tarek, Yasmina and Rami, aged between 17 and 22 years old, it is just an ordinary day during which they question themselves about sex, love and night time hanging out.

A very unlucky guy, Bakry, ends up with an abandoned and cursed theater house, and he must find a way to elevate the curse, as it affects him every time he enters the theater.

Two parallel stories. In the present day, the disciple of an old Raqi (a Muslim exorcist) fears that his master’s dementia will unleash evil. In 1992, after a car accident that left him with amnesia, Ahmed returns to his village, where nothing seems familiar to him: neither his wife nor his children. His youngest son, frightened by Ahmed’s bandaged face, is deeply afraid of him.

Abdo decides to steal cars, and in his first attempt, he meets the married woman Najwa, who suffers from her husband Hanafi the gang leader . Abdo claims to be the head of a company and tries to find evidence to bring the husband down.

Sultan is working to expel the residents of his buildings to build investment projects. He raises the issue of expulsion on the pretext that architecture is falling. Attorney Nima (Suhair Ramzi) and her husband Dr. Kamal (Mahmoud Abdel Aziz) confront him with the people of the neighborhood to prevent him from carrying out his plan. Hamada's son Sultan al-Mu'allim returns from America to discover that Nima is married, and his father enters his chest to avenge her. But fate hid many surprises in the events.

Based on a text from the recent Egyptian novel The Revolution of 2053 by Mahmoud Uthman, and referencing a scene from Chris Marker’s La Jetée (1962), a time-traveller recounts his vision of the future of the Pyramids area, and by extension Egypt, in the year 2026 – a vision that strains to reach beyond, yet remains severely confined by the present’s imaginal constraints.

Amjad, a young, fearless woman from Saudi Arabia, is tired of being controlled by the state and patronized by her family. With an arranged marriage imminent, a life without rights and free will seems inevitable. Amjad decides to escape. An unprecedented view inside the world’s most repressive patriarchy.

Hashem works as a teacher in the city of Tanta. When some of his students visit the Abbas band that roams the carnivals, he warns them against it. But when he sees the dancer Lula who works in the band, he falls for her and joins them.

A young woman, who is in charge of an orphanage, is summoned by the police to help identify a corpse. On this day, she will witness a painful confrontation with a smalll town, its past, and the many characters who seem to be following her.

A life coach is faced with a risky challenge when a friend proposes a plan to stage a fake session and steal a manuscript worth six million riyals from an old tycoon.

Khaled, a 17-year old boy living in the poorest corners of Jeddah becomes obsessed with a diamond ring he found at the beach. Quickly, he realizes that what seems like a beautiful discovery is nothing but a nightmare

Monem returns to his country and meets his beloved Nabila again, but he is afraid that he will be hit by the curse of madness that afflicted his family members, as his parents have already died of madness, he visits his aunts and knows that they kill a number of the elderly shelter's members, and bury them in the basement of the shelter, and Monem seeks to get away from Nabila so as not to harm her.

Yalla 3abelkon Chabeb shows us through the eyes of men how hard nowadays it is to have a proper relationship, based on love respect, principles and values… Is it because we live in a society where everything became so easy? Will those characters find true love? Does true love still exist? Why can’t we fight for what we have instead of turning our backs when a problem comes along? Are we looking at the wrong reasons to get married? Once married, how can we keep the marriage alive? Are all men cheaters?