There is nothing better than a good movie to start the New Year.
Following the success of the Carthage Festival, the Festival of Algiers and the Marrakech Festival, emerging film festivals in Maghreb and the Middle East have seen great success in the past few years. More local cinema productions have appeared in the Arab world’s film industry, which has resulted in significant media and public interest in movies from the region throughout the world. In spite of the revolutions, the sometimes slow democratic transitions, and the persistent dictatorships in Arab countries, 2014 was a year rich in movies.
Below, Huffpost Tunisia invites you to go through a small selection of must-see Arab movies released in 2014 that should be part of your screening queue in 2015.
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1
A World Not Ours, Lebanon
Teaser: A moving, sensitive and violent movie. The camera is always on the run, which gives a constant feeling of authenticity. Movie info: This movie is an intimate and humorous portrait of three generations of exile in the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh, south of Lebanon. Based on a wealth of personal recordings, family archives, and historical footage, the film is an illuminating study of belonging, friendship and family in the lives of those for whom dispossession is something normal and nostalgia permeates day-to-day life.
2
Fièvres (Fevers), Morocco
Teaser: An indescribable emotion courses through this movie, whose graphics and cinematography are extraordinary.Movie info: Thirteen-year-old Benjamin becomes determined to go live with the father he has never met. He wants to grow up. Quickly. Karim, his father, is still living with his parents and letting himself go with the flow. He finds himself unprepared to face this insolent and impulsive adolescent who will violently turn their lives upside down.
3
War Reporter, Tunisia
Teaser: No voiceover, and not much music either. The editing is simple, because the images speak for themselves.Movie info: This documentary about war reporters shows in a blunt, unembellished manner the lives of men and women whose jobs are to relay contemporary events.
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4
Girafada, Palestine
Teaser: Based on a true story, the film shows the horrors lived by some Palestinian children in Israel. A movie that exudes authenticity, despite some tedious passages.Movie info: Yacine is a veterinarian in Palestine’s only remaining zoo. His 10-year-old son Ziad has a strong bond with the zoo’s two giraffes. One night, after an air raid, the male giraffe dies. The female giraffe can’t survive alone. Yacine must absolutely find a new companion for the beast, but the only zoo that can help him is in Tel-Aviv.
5
Le veau d’or (The Golden Calf), Morocco
Teaser: This road trip movie, shot on 35mm, is a picturesque comedy full of colorful metaphors.Movie info: In 1999, Sami, a 17-year-old Franco-Moroccan, is sent by his father to his cousin Azadade in Morocco as a punishment for his bad actions. Sami has only one wish: to return to France before his 18th birthday and get back together with Melanie, his fiancée. He decides to steal an ox from the Moroccan king Hassan II, involving his cousin in a series of adventures on the Moroccan roads while being followed by two zealous policemen.
6
L'armée du salut (Salvation Army), Morocco
Teaser: The novelist Abdellah Taia presents the portrait of a young Moroccan boy who is secretly gay. A sincere and promising movie.Movie info: In a famous neighborhood in Casablanca, Abdellah, a gay adolescent, is trying to find himself within a large family, divided between an authoritarian mother and an elder brother whom he loves passionately.
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7
L'Oranais (The Man From Oran), Algeria
Teaser: Lyes Ben Salem succeeds in making a fascinating movie., pleasantly surprises us with its brutally honest look at politics.Movie info: During the first euphoric years following independence, two friends, Djaffar and Hamid, hope for a better future in a free Algeria until the day when treason separates them.
8
La Preuve (The Proof), Algeria
Teaser: A deeply personal, sensitive movie that shows how each of us can become our own worst nightmare. In spite of its slow rhythm, the emotions involved are very affecting.Movie info: Ali, a taxi driver in Algeria, has been married for two years to Hourria, a widow with two girls. They are unable to have children. On Hourria’s demand, Ali tests his fertility. If he is sterile, will he admit it to his wife, who might not want him as a husband, and to his father, who expects an heir from him.
9
Le Challat de Tunis (The Challat of Tunis), Tunisia
Teaser:A critical depiction of Tunisia’s misogynistic society.Movie info: In 2003, a man on a motorbike, razor blade in hand, prowls the streets of Tunis slashing women’s buttocks. They call him "The Challat," or "The Blade.”
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This post originally appeared on HuffPost Tunisia and was translated into English.
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