Discoveries from Saudi Arabia World Cinema

When a religious mosque prayer caller begins to lose his voice, he looks for a replacement in his neighbor: a vocalist in a heavy metal rock band.

In a world where fate and the unexpected are bonded, watch the extraordinary story of Amer and his newfound companion, a mystical lizard with unimaginable powers.

Amer plans to travel with his friends this summer, but his desire clashes with his family's insistence on accompanying them as well. The problem seems minor at first, but it pales in comparison to the surprises that await them upon their arrival.

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.

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.

A journey exploring the history of Al Madinah Al Munawwarah along the 175-km Badr Route.

Layla lives a peaceful life with her husband Hossam in one of the coastal cities. When her older sister Nemat comes to live with her after facing financial difficulties, Hossam tries to dig into Nemat's past, especially after one of his best friends falls in love with her.

N is coming from the desert to reach the north of Africa and make an illegal crossing to Europe. Alone in Tunisia, he decides to cross the solitary sea. He steals a boat and begins his journey, but it soon sinks into the water. From that moment, N embarks in a special and unique voyage: he discovers different and infinite spaces, makes intense and fleeting encounters, and meets another altered image of himself.

In Baghdad's streets, Chum-Chum, a diabetic and dreamy nine-year-old, believes the Tigris hides a gate to Irkalla, the underworld where he can revive his lost parents. As his friend Moody is pulled into a militia plot, Chum-Chum must choose between myth and truth.

The elder filmmaker makes a strong statement against the practices of circumcision as they performed around Africa and particularly Sudan. The film is typical of the later Gubara films which are determined to take a stand against the tyrannies that are still keeping people down. Gubara has stated that circumcision is "Nothing more than a bad habit".

Al-Gaid emerges as a captivating epic adventure, unfolding against the backdrop of the 20th-century wintery northern Arabian desert. Boldly redefines the adventure revenge genre and Bedouin soap operas, crafting a unique narrative.

When an aspiring filmmaker tries to make a project about Jeddah little does he know what the beloved city means to him until stumbling upon an underrated maven cinematographer living in a country without cinema.

Driss and Zahra leave their fisherman's village to take their six-year-old son, Ayoub, to the emergency room of the Casablanca's public hospital. There they meet Driss' brother, Houcine, with whom they have been in conflict for years. The doctor diagnoses a brain problem requiring immediate action. This is the starting point of a painful journey exhausting each one. Are they ready to do everything to save Ayoub's life?

Radha Abu Risha is a talented artist, but he does not find an echo for all his writing.

The film is set in a comedian in a popular lane, where one of its inhabitants, Shoman (Mohammed Lutfi), possesses supernatural abilities inherited from his father, the super hero Iron Man, and exploits his supernatural abilities by a gang member (Diab) to protect him and to steal money from One of the nightclubs.

In 2011 Tunisia, as the Arab Spring awakens, unemployed graduate Aziz, nicknamed Zizou (Zied Ayadi), travels from his Saharan village to the big city of Tunis in search of a job. From television aerial installation to political intrigue, this fresh-faced young Candide will learn the ways of the world, fall in love with the ravishing Aicha (Sara Hanachi), and become famous.--Eddie Cockrell, FilmFest DC

Salma is a young, privileged, and rebellious Saudi girl whose family hires a Sudanese man named Gamar to drive her to and from her day-to-day activities. Initially adhering to a simple employer/employee dynamic, Salma and Gamar’s relationship quickly evolves into an intimate personal friendship that bonds them through her teenage years and beyond, but their friendship is put to the test when Salma gets older and starts taking the wheel.

Up bright and early with their pet in tow, Zohra Bouderbala and her five children are heading to the beach. This is not a drill! In Algiers, the coveted front row spot waits for no one, but it’s not this family’s first time having to beat the summer seaside crowds. The unmotivated and out-of-luck masses who arrive too late will be left to a viewless laze in the sun, the alleged horizon blocked by a fortress of parasols and flowing canopies.

Hailing from a conservative community, a man, woman and child are forced to travel together in a small car to undertake the journey over a 300-km long stretch of road.

For Walid, a taxi driver in Damascus, the only place he can steal a private kiss with his love, Suhair, is in his car. When Suhair is invited by her friend to visit Tehran, she and Walid together board a train from the Syrian capital to Tehran. As they follow the stunning scenery captured beautifully on film, Walid and Suhair finally have an opportunity to get to know each other outside of his taxi…

Despite being part of a young generation of Palestinian Arabs whose families chose to stay and challenge the Israeli state after Al-Nakba, 17-year-old Tamer and his friends are just like any other group of teenage boys. They clumsily search for drugs, flirt with girls, play video games, and slack off at school. However, when a beautiful new student named Maysaa’ joins their class Tamer immediately falls for her and, by association, is drawn into her political activism. Together they join fellow classmate, Safwat, in an operation to covertly raise the Palestinian flag and peacefully disrupt the local celebrations planned for Israel’s Independence Day – otherwise known to Palestinians as a day of mourning and memorialization for their displacement 70 years prior. Unsure of his own political convictions, Tamer must quickly determine what matters to him and what price he is willing to pay for freedom.

The events revolve around 3 women who love Turkish series. They go on a trip from Riyadh to Istanbul to see their favorite actor, but things turn around when they find themselves accused of kidnapping the star they love and they become part of their own Turkish series.

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.

Shams, an Uber driver in Jeddah, is a single mother with two obsessions: her only child, Makki, and her African desserts. Shams struggles to convince Makki to follow the traditional path of marriage and to show any interest in her desserts. In fact, Makki’s passion unravels as he decides to participate in a hip-hop competition, which could lead to winning an extended trip to France and separate them for the first time in their lives. Shams is forced to decide which is more important: losing her son or finding herself.

The wife of a well-known singer dies along with her driver in a traffic accident. In the ensuing murder investigation many latent – but explosive – issues rise to the surface.

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?

Hadeel is at a turning point in her life. Her hesitant character and selfishness, that she is well aware of, make her unstoppable when it comes to getting what she wants, even if it at the expense of others.

In this sequel, a group of expert drivers skilled in drifting and high-speed racing is recruited to perform obscure tasks for a shadowy gang.

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 ten minute wait in a medical clinic forces a young mother and her daughter to collude together at a pivotal point in time that will shape both their lives together.

Short movie (Al Urjouha) His story revolves around a soldier returning from the front to visit the family of his friend who died in the war. He decides to live with her and compensate for the loss of their son. He builds a solid relationship with the daughter of the martyr, who never stops playing on the "Swing" that her father made for her.

The film revolves around a man who can spend all of his life in a difficult life by lying and cheating. He is connected to a girl who seeks to marry him and is disappointed to be associated with another man until he finds himself alone, which causes him to continue the monument again.

Forbidden Photos: First Story (Forbidden)

This documentary was written with passion and love for cinema, and on the other hand, he blamed her. Our fictional character for this documentary talks about her passion for cinema and how it affected her life and recounts the decades that passed on the cinema one after the other.

The life of St. George the hero prince of martyrdoms and the Saint of all ages

Two orphan teachers graduate from one of the shelters in Alexandria heading to Cairo to work in one of the primary schools.

The story of the life of the monk (Andrew Samuel), who grew up in the province of Beni Suef at the end of the nineteenth century, lost his sight at the age of three years, and sent to the monastery for the purpose of learning, but years later decided to monk in the monastery of St. (Samuel confessor). The film is subject to asceticism, humility, miracles and biography until his death in the 1980s.

The story of two lovers who are united in an environment hostile to dating of any kind. Barakah is municipal civil servant from Jeddah and an amateur actor in a theatre troupe. Barakah is a wild beauty, who functions as a crowd-puller for her stylish mother’s boutique and runs her own widely-seen vlog. They both defy customs and traditions, as well as the religious police, using modern communication technologies and traditional dating methods.

Refugees are captured by border patrol officers as one woman escapes to find herself surviving on her own in a foreign land.

The widow of "Bahjat Bek", who died and left a great mystery behind, asks "El Maharaja", to help her solve this mystery. However, he falls in love with her daughter which leads to a complicated situation.

Cultural attitudes towards beauty standards are exhaustively unpacked in this delirious satire, about how hair dictates the social mobility of a put-upon caretaker and her intellectually challenged ward.

the story of a young bourgeois woman who lost her husband. Through her quest for redemption, she discovers another world, where the people of the rural parts are suffering in silence.

Tariq is a straight architect, the mother of his fiancé Maha refuses to complete their marriage because he refuses to take bribery to improve his financial condition. He becomes a drug addict and meets the runaway hooker Hamida who decides to repent. They get married without knowing the truth about each other.

A neglected housewife’s constant attempts to regain her short-tempered husband’s interest in their marriage prove futile.

Wissam Charaf traces the recent history and identity of Lebanon through its political campaigns, PR imagery and pop videos.

The Inspector (Youssef) and his colleague Morad begin to investigate the attempt to unravel the mystery of the five crimes. Ibelieving that this is a complex series of crimes. However, as the investigation progresses, doubts begin to arise regarding the possible involvement of his colleague Murad in this series of crimes. Is he really the real criminal? Was he able to mislead justice? Or is the offender free outside ?

A determined young woman in a remote Tunisian city bucks tradition by studying for an academic degree, instead of accepting the time-honored, submissive role of her sex as a wife and housekeeper for some 'mustached man'.

In one of the villages on the coast of South Sinai, where the Bedouin woman suffers a beautiful \ "rose \" from the grief and pain of the death of three of her husband, to become a widow uttered by everyone and accuse them of bringing drowsiness on men !! The \ "rose \" of the Sheikh \ "Hijab \" charming village wizard to ask him advice in deciphering her feelings in the age of young, convinced by the veil to marry him to cleanse of the curses chasing and agree forced to marry the old charlatan short-blowing youth and give birth to a child dwarf The father calls him "Mabrouk" and he is known to make miracles to get rid of his wealth by exploiting the need of simple people in the works of superstition and diction..

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.

In this autobiographical film the Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman goes in search of his past and possible future in occupied Palestine. Wherever he looks, he feels surrounded by images and places that have a political significance. Can a landscape be free of meaning, is there any point in striving for an approach that transcends all ideology? Commissioned by the ARTE network as part of a series of films for the end of the millennium, this film is a travelogue through Jerusalem, Nazareth and Ramallah. The film is a meditation on quotidian injustices, and a formulation of an aesthetic and creative response to them.