Middle East

This art-heist-thriller-meets-portrait-documentary delves into the disappearance of over 100 "treasonous" paintings by the co-director's father, revolutionary Iranian artist Nickzad (Nicky) Nodjoumi.

After the sudden death of her husband, Nawal is facing hardship. In the absence of legal documents, her brother-in-law swoops in to claim her assets, as well as guardianship of her young daughter.

Mediha, a teenage Yazidi girl recently returned from Islamic State (ISIS) captivity, turns the camera on herself, capturing an astonishing journey as she confronts her past in order to fight for her future.

In 2007, Reyhaneh Jabbari, 19, is sentenced to death in Iran for the murder of a man who tried to rape her. The efforts her family and supporters undertake open a window into the mass oppression and silencing of women in Iran, and the risks taken by those who defend and support them.

Doaa el-Adl is one the most prominent of the very few female cartoonists in the Arab world. Draw me Egypt - Doaa El-Adl, A Stroke of Freedom creatively blends documentary, cartoons and animation to bring to life this courageous artist’s thoughts on politics and feminism as she uses her talent to advocate for women’s rights.

The Return: Life After ISIS is a unique portrait of a group of Western women who pledged their lives to ISIS, but now want to return home to restart their lives.

Northern Iraq's first lingerie store not only sells underwear, but also acts as a meeting place where women connect to their bodies and sensuality after overcoming the traumas of oppression, war, and conservative morality. With brave honesty a group of Kurdish and Yazidi women chat candidly, revealing the challenges they face in a male-dominated society.

Mustafa lives on the Palestinian-controlled side of the wall, and Salwa and their children on the Israeli side. One day he gets the call every parent dreads: his son has been in an accident and is in the hospital. He will do anything to reach his son, and after being denied access through the checkpoint on a technicality, Mustafa embarks upon a journey to cross the border illegally.

When she was 12 years old, actress and filmmaker Maryam Zaree found out that she was one of a number of babies born inside Evin, Iran’s most notorious political prison. 

Jewish Israeli lawyer Lea Tsemel and her Palestinian colleagues have been working for decades representing their clients in an increasingly conservative Israel. To many, Lea is a traitor who defends the indefensible. For others, she's more than an attorney – she’s a true ally. 

After spending more than a decade in prison for an attack on an Israeli settler, Ziad struggles to readjust to life in Ramallah, lost in a world he barely recognizes. 

Within a constant political turmoil, Amal searches for her place, identity and sexuality in a patriarchal society.

This timely, coming of age story follows Ava, a teenage girl whose life is dictated by the constraints of her conservative, patriarchal community in Tehran.

For the past eight years Muhi, a young boy from Gaza, has been trapped in an Israeli hospital.

When an uprising breaks out in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 1987, a young woman in Gaza must make a choice between love, family, and freedom.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad is a 25-year-old lifeline to the Yezidi community. 

In the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon lies refugee camp Majdal Anjar, where a small community of the country’s approximately 1.2 million Syrian refugees live.

Saudi poetess Hissa Hilal made headlines around the world as the first woman to reach the finals of the Arab world’s biggest televised poetry competition, “Million’s Poet.”

The Workers Cup follows one group of men from among the 1.6 million migrant workers preparing for the world’s largest sporting event.

Mosul: a city in ruins, captured by IS for more than three years, is now facing new conflicts and a long, difficult way to overcome the aftermath.

Filmed over 5 years, A Syrian Love Story charts the incredible odyssey of comrades and lovers Amer and Raghda to political freedom.

“I was very sorry that I never had the chance to be a young, single woman who could marry whoever she wants, whenever she wants.”

With deeply personal access, this is the untold story of a brave group of citizen journalists forced to live undercover, on the run, and in exile—risking their lives to stand up against one of the most violent movements in the world today.

<p>As the war threatens to leave a generation of young Syrians without education, health care or a state, Lost in Lebanon follows four Syrians who are building a community, sharing resources and attempting to advocate for themselves in their new land.</p>

The first person narrative in Nowhere to Hide allows an immersive and uncompromising insight into the resilience and fortitude of a male nurse in Jalawla, Iraq.

Murder, drug addiction, hijacking cars, running away from home: these are just a few of the crimes that the girls from the rehabilitation center for juvenile delinquents in Tehran have committed.

<p>The Settlers cracks open the world of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank: their daily lives, their worldviews, and their position within Israel.</p>

Dubbed, “The Egyptian Jon Stewart,” Bassem Youssef hosts the most popular television programme in the Middle East.

In our media-saturated world, victims of wars and mass violations of human rights are often depicted as bodies rather than as individuals.

In August 2013, a military defector with the code name “Caesar” smuggled 53,275 photographs out of Syria.

<p>A political thriller and a musical journey,<em>No Land's Song</em> never loses sight of its real center - the female voice.</p>

Danae Elon exposes a deep, complex, and painful portrait of Jerusalem today. 

What does it take to operate safely in a conflict zone and return with material that succeeds on both an editorial and ethical level?

Salam Neighbor uncovers inspiring stories of individuals who find themselves in Jordan now living as refugees - rallying, against all odds, to rebuild their lives and those of their neighbors.

Winner of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary and World Cinema Audience Award for Documentary, Sonita follows a determined and animated Afghan teen.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad directs this inspiring biopic about Mohammad Assaf, a singer from Gaza, who in 2013 won the TV talent show “Arab Idol,” entertaining and inspiring millions.

Women were on the front lines of the uprisings that swept the Arab world in 2011. 

<p>Through a clever mix of stop motion animation and interviews, <em>The Wanted 18</em> recreates an astonishing true story: the Israeli army's pursuit of 18 cows.</p>

Representations of human suffering and injustice are not only aesthetic choices; they are political and ethical choices. In an era where images can be captured in one place and consumed instantly around the world, we examine the proposed concept of "a right to the image".

Abounaddara is a collective of filmmakers working towards providing an alternative image of Syrian society. It was founded in 2010 in opposition to the prevailing representations of Syria found in the Western media.

When atrocities are committed in countries held hostage by ruthless dictators, Human Rights Watch sends in the Emergencies Team, a collection of fiercely intelligent individuals who document war crimes and report them to the world.

First to Fall is an intimate story of friendship, sacrifice, and the madness of war. It bears witness to the irreversible transformation of two friends, and the price they pay for their convictions.

In 2009, Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was covering Iran's volatile elections for Newsweek. One of the few reporters in the country with access to US media, he made an appearance on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". The interview was inten

For the Abounaddara Collective, "films should burst out like bullets to break the silence. They should tell the Syrian story with great narrative intensity and make the viewer look at reality differently."

TEACHING IGNORANCE asks: How do the Palestinian, Israeli Arab, and Israeli Jewish educational systems teach the history of their peoples?

Filmmaker Francois Verster explores how music and storytelling can serve as an outlet for citizens to process political upheaval.

I knew that people would one day take to the street, and I knew that I would participate. - Hend Nafea

<p><em>The Trials of Spring</em> is a multimedia initiative that aims to elevate the stories of women. This program will feature a selection of short films and a discussion with the project's multi-disciplinary team.</p>

If change happens one person at a time, by opening minds and replacing hatred with understanding, what will the future hold for the next generation of Israeli and Palestinian children?

What happens when your child comes out to you? My Child answers this question as it introduces a courageous and inspiring group of mothers and fathers in Turkey, who are parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.

Filmed between August 2011 and August 2013, Return to Homs is a remarkably intimate portrait of a group of young revolutionaries in the city of Homs in western Syria. They dream of their country being free from President Bashar al-Assad and fi

This engaging tragicomic documentary follows women inmates through a 10-month drama therapy/theater project set up in 2012 by director Zeina Daccache at the Baabda Prison in Lebanon.

Sepideh is a young Iranian woman who dares to dream—of a future as an astronaut.

This real life thriller tells the story of one of Israel's most prized intelligence sources: the son of top Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Youssef, Mosab Hassan Youssef.

After 10 years in Scotland, Sara Ishaq travels back to her childhood home of Yemen and takes her camera along. She hopes to feel at home in the place that was once so close to her heart, but the complications soon become clear.

From the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-long dictatorship in 2011 to the military's removal of Egypt's first democratically elected president in 2013, we follow a group of Egyptian activists as they confront the authorities and security forces to