Order the spring issue here

Arab movie days

Political thriller from real-life Egypt

Tarik Saleh: Boy from heaven

ARAB FILM DAYS: "Boy from Heaven" is first and foremost a well-composed suspense film, but at the same time gives an exciting insight into religious environments and political lines of conflict in today's Egypt.

Arab film with political sting

Hany Abu-Assad, Mounia Akl: Huda's Salon / Costa Brava, Lebanon

ARAB FILM DAYS: The thriller Huda's Salon takes a feminist look at the position of women in the Israeli – occupied West Bank, while the distinctive family drama Costa Brava, Lebanon deals with Lebanon's ongoing waste crisis.

Forgiveness and revenge

Alessio Romenzi, Francesca Mannocchi: ISIS Tomorrow: The Lost Souls of Mosul

MOSULS RUINS: The movie ISIS Tomorrow describes the state of Mosul in January 2018, six months after the city was liberated from Islamic State.

Dandelion of the West Bank

Christy Garland: What Walaa Wants

: LANYARD: What Walaa Wants portrays a child growing up in the shadow of Israeli occupation and Palestinian freedom struggle, in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank.

Small bits of beauty

Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell: Gaza

EVERYDAY IN GAZA: The film depicts the resignation that is, in fact, a will to find a life and a happiness in the midst of all the tragedies.

Then the people had enough

Julia Bacha: Naila and the Uprising

: OCCUPATION: Naila and the Uprising is a close and personal story of women's struggle and big politics during the first intifada.

A descent into the world of torture

Dahlia Hens: Privacy of Wounds

: SYRIA: In a simulated prison cell, in a basement in Oslo, sit three men from Syria. It is a strong political documentary.

With hope of change

Erika Cohn / Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander and Tamir Elterman: The Judge / Muhi – Generally Temporary

: By portraying a female Sharia judge in the West Bank and a Palestinian boy in an Israeli hospital, respectively, these two documentaries provide insight into some of the challenges Palestinians face.