Spotlight: Middle Eastern Filmmakers
The Middle East is a vibrant and diverse region with rich cultures and unique voices. Film Fest Report is proud to support the rise of a strong, authentic, and distinctive independent cinema from the Middle East.
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Cannes 2025 (Palme d’Or): It Was Just An Accident (dir. Jafar Panahi) | Review
Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winning film investigates the tortured souls of the oppressed through a moral conundrum.
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Cannes 2025 (Un Certain Regard): Aisha Can’t Fly Away (dir. Morad Mostafa) | Review
Berlinale Talent alumnus Morad Mostafa brings an offbeat yet rebellious film to Un Certain Regard this year, focusing on misogyny…
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Sundance 2025: The Things You Kill (dir. Alireza Khatami) | Review
Family drama turns into a body-swap mystery thriller in Iranian filmmaker Alireza Khatami’s Turkey-set "The Things You Kill" ("Öldürdüğün Şeyler")—one…
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Sundance 2025: Cutting Through Rocks (dirs. Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni) | Review
A gripping work of direct cinema captures the bold and deeply moving crusade of a woman elected in a rural…
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Sundance 2025: Coexistence, My Ass! (dir. Amber Fares) | Review
Amber Fares delivers an urgent and essential contemporary film—a clinical and devastating work advocating for peace and justice, driven by…
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IDFA 2024: Rule of Stone (dir. Danae Elon) | Review
Danae Elon examines Israeli architecture as an instrument of the systematic and infernal machine of colonialism in "Rule of Stone,"…
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TIFF 2024: Seven Days (by Ali Samadi Ahadi) | Review
Revolutionary Mohammad Rasoulof writes a stunning survival drama about a courageous woman facing a tough choice between family and social…
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Melbourne IFF 2024: Norah (by Tawfik Alzaidi) | Review
The phrase 'A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words' encapsulates the bold mission in "Norah," directed by Saudi filmmaker Tawfik Alzaidi,…
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Doc Edge 2024: I Shall Not Hate | Interview of Tal Barda
We met filmmaker Tal Barda, who brought a message of peace to the 19th Doc Edge Festival with "I Shall…
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Doc Edge 2024: I Shall Not Hate | Interview of Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish
"The one who opts for revenge digs two graves," Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish shared with us. We met the three-time Nobel…
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