Arab cinema
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Arab Film Festival in BerlinSpotlighting Palestinian voices
As the Israel-Hamas war impacts Germany's cultural sector, the organisers of the ALFILM festival fear for the future of their event
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Tunisian film "Four Daughters"Painful family ties
Two of Tunisian single mother Olfa Hamrouni's four daughters joined IS in Libya. For more than nine years now, Hamrouni has been fighting to be reunited with her daughters. Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania has made a moving feature-length documentary on her story
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Israel-Hamas conflict impacts BerlinaleGaza war sparks tensions
The Berlin International Film Festival is no stranger to politics. The Middle East conflict was bound to cause debates and protests this year
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Cinema showcase in MoroccoArab women filmmakers challenge Western preconceptions
Female filmmakers from across the Middle East are increasingly being recognised and celebrated. But the challenges they face are not always what you might expect
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Sofia Alaoui's film "Animalia"Aliens land in Morocco
Moroccan terrain has long proved a popular backdrop for American film productions. In "Animalia", director Sofia Alaoui highlights Morocco's scenery from a local and personal perspective, focusing in particular on the Atlas Mountains
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"Iraq's Invisible Beauty"Pictures, not words
"Iraq's Invisible Beauty" is a documentary film depicting the journey of the late Iraqi photographer Latif al-Ani, who gained international acclaim as one of the pioneers of photography in Iraq and the Middle East. By Shady Lewis Botros
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Tunisian films about the Arab SpringRage, hope and desperation
Tunisian filmmakers are addressing the subject of the Arab Spring and its failure in Tunisia in their films. Shady Lewis Botros watched three of them for Qantara.de
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Saudi Arabia's cultural revolutionArtists, but not individuals in the Western sense
"Saudi Vision 2030" foresees the accelerated modernisation of Saudi Arabia – and that includes the country’s culture. Huge amounts of government funding are being poured into the arts, while exchange with the West is welcomed. These new freedoms do, however, have their limits, as Joseph Croitoru reports.
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Khaled Jarrar's documentary "Notes on Displacement"Putting faces to the nameless
Many films exist about the dangerous escape routes people have been taking to reach Europe since 2015 to escape war, conflict and precarious living conditions. In this very personal documentary, Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar accompanies an old lady from Yarmouk, Syria, who was driven out of Nazareth as a child. By Rene Wildangel
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Berlinale's first Yemeni feature filmThe taboo of abortion
"Al Murhaqoon" ("The Burdened") is the first Yemeni feature film ever to be shown at the Berlinale. Ahmed Shawky spoke to director Amr Gamal about the difficulties of making a film in Yemen and the taboo of abortion
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Tunisia's Oscar shortlist"Under The Fig Trees" and modern rural youth
Erige Sehiri, director of "Under The Fig Trees", shortlisted to represent Tunisia at the Oscars next year, says she hopes the award-winning drama film will smash the cliche that rural women are "miserable and closed"
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Cairo Conspiracy a.k.a. Boy From HeavenAl-Azhar, a Catholic monastery...and the Dalai Lama
Palme d’Or winner "Boy from Heaven" is a classic crossover film in which cultural elements are mixed together in haphazard and random fashion. Shady Lewis Botros bemoans the director’s use of various formulaic and cliche-ridden templates dominant in global mass culture