Arabic

Some university students change their views on sex after hearing a lecture on the blind Syrian philosopher Al-Maarri. He gets his way with one of them after sneaking what I imagine is rufees into one of their drinks which has disastrous consequences. After going to some wild bellydancing parties they are ensnared by a polyester-clad drug-dealer and womanizer/rapist. The victims’ friends plan to avenge her with the help of the local police. Includes numerous musical numbers and belly dancing scenes.
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Moncef Kahloucha is a fan of ’70s genre movies, especially those with Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly and Clint Eastwood. Apart from working as a house painter in Kazmet, a poor Tunician locality, Kahloucha is a tenacious director, actor, screenwriter and prop master in his own zero-budget productions. At the limits of communal, visceral cinema captured on a VHS camera, it literally costs Kahloucha blood, sweat and tears to shoot his next film: Tarzan of the Arabs, opening at a bar TV set. With an amplified eye, Néjib Belkhadi not only records a ferocious making-of, but also manages to come out with a crystal-clear map of Kazmet’s social ills, including the Arabs who must survive in their Italian exile to the tune of the anthological “Tunisino” by Neshez. The savage primitiveness of the shooting, the struggle for a place in the ads of the neighbors-actors and Kahloucha’s displays of tinsel used in previous films are some gripping, all but likely moments of an incendiary passion for cinema.
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PEACE VOICES RISING FROM GALATA
Sema symbolising a going and return, a spiritual voyage to the perfection is a salutation from the secret brave men in the heart. This voyage composed of seven parts embraces with love and affection all humanity, all living creatures by turning from right to left around the heart.

Galata Mevlevi Music and Sema Group from Galata Mevlevihane organising sema ceremonies fulfills its mission of peace representative thanks to the shows held on the whole world. The group organising a sema ceremony and conversation meeting to the honour of the Queen of Spain in the past years took part in the activities of “World Aid Committee to the Helpless Children” arranged by UNESCO in Brussels.Read More »

From IMDB:
I was very curious to see this Egyptian action/crime thriller from 1973, and boy, was it worth the wait! Similar in a lot of ways to the Italian films of this type, this one features gun fights, car chases, lots of nudity, askew camera angles, lots of hand-held camera work (though more out of budgetary constraints, than any post-modern considerations, ala Michael Bay, Tony Scott, etc), and just plain weirdness. A few scenes are effectively done in the style of giallos, and there’s quite a few surprises in the deceptively linear story. Some scenes and effects are laughably inept (like the point blank shooting of a naked woman where the squib turns out to be dry…!?), but the overall package is so deliriously trippy, you hardly mind the flubs. there is even a touch of lesbianism and a (possible) hint of incest in the script, which is familiar in places but accumulates enough elements to appear somewhat unique. But despite the crudeness of style and the sleaze, the film manages to say something meaningful, and end on a poignant note…just when I thought it was going towards a more happy ending. I love this baby, and I want to see more Arabic films like this one (if indeed there are any). apparently the film was later banned in Egypt, but that’s all good in my book.Read More »

Review: “Halfaouine, Boy of the Terraces” is a charming coming-of-age film from Tunisia that takes a rare look at the inner workings of Arabic culture — the stone- walled streets, alleys, rooftops and households of everyday Tunisia, where traditions seem little interrupted by the modern world.Read More »

June 11th 1967, the Six-Day War is over and the cease fire has just begun. We follow the journey of Gassan and Haled, two Egyptian soldiers whose only wish is to make their way through the Sinai desert and safely reach the Suez Canal. Thus begins a comical, almost surrealistic saga during which they meet various groups of people across the desert, including Israeli soldiers on patrol and a pushy news reporter.Read More »

A comedy/drama set in a village and centered on a battle of the sexes, where women threaten to withhold sexual favors if their men refuse to fetch water from a remote well.Read More »

Filmed in a reformed train Wagon, sueur follows the performance as a belly
dancer of The secret of the Grain lead actress, Hafsia Herzi, who dances on
hot and popular musics.Read More »

Bab’Aziz, AKA The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul, is the story of a blind dervish named Bab’Aziz and his spirited granddaughter, Ishtar. Together they wander the desert in search of a great reunion of dervishes that takes place just once every thirty years. With faith as their only guide, the two journey for days through the expansive, barren landscape. To keep Ishtar entertained, Bab’Aziz relays the ancient tale of a prince who relinquished his realm in order to remain next to a small pool in the desert, staring into its depths while contemplating his soul. As the tale of the prince unfolds, the two encounter other travelers with stories of their own, including Osman, who longs for the beautiful woman he met at the bottom of a well, and Zaid, who searches for the ravishing young woman who fled from him after being seduced by his songs. A fairytale-like story of longing and belonging, filmed in the enchanting and ever-shifting sandscapes of Tunisia and Iran.Read More »