Films of the Middle East

Learning about Culture through Cinema and Documentary

Using Film for Understanding

Visual learners need stimulating visual input to stay engaged

Film engages emotions

Film also provokes a variety of learning styles

Information can be gathered about the culture, social tensions, aspirations and aesthetics of people in the region that is more complete and multidimensional news outlets

It’s important to recognize films, documentaries, books, and blogs are not universally representative. They tell one person’s, one family’s, or one group’s story.

Student activities beyond discussion: response videos, character diaries/self portraits, dialogue sessions, journals, blogs.

What Makes the Cut?Have to have artistic merit, be accessible, and

be both useful and appropriate for the classroom

Included both films about the Middle East and about Muslims, since the crisis in understanding affects both

Take place in the Middle East, or feature Middle Eastern or Muslim Americans

Feature Films

Amreeka (US)

A Palestinian single mom moves to Illinois with her teenaged son just at the outbreak of the 2003 war in Iraq. In writer-director Cherien Dabis’s feature film debut, they struggle against anti-Muslim feeling, high school bullies, and culture shock to make a new home for themselves here. The story is told with warmth and gentle humor.

See the trailer here or at other online film sites; the film is available through the official website. Released in 2009.

The Band’s Visit (Israel)A band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in the wrong town. As the days roll on, the co-mingling of Egyptian band members and Israeli residents gives each individual insights into his cultural identity and that of the others. Released in 2007.

Captain Abu Raed (Jordan)

Captain Abu Raed is a story of friendship, inspiration and heroism set in contemporary Jordan. Abu Raed is a lonely janitor at Amman’s International Airport. Never having realized his dreams of seeing the world, he experiences it vicariously through books and brief encounters with travelers. When he finds a pilot’s hat, it transforms him into a storyteller who recharges the neighborhood children’s capacity to dream. Released in 2009.

Available to screen on Netflix and for purchase for personal use on Amazon.

Children of Heaven (Iran)

Children of Heaven is a 1997 Iranian film by Majid Majidi. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1998. A brother loses his sister’s shoes, and they must share a single pair of shoes to attend school so their parents don’t find out.

The Color of Paradise (Iran)

Noted Iranian director Majid Majidi’s Color of Paradise is a fable of a child's innocence and a complex look at faith and humanity. Visually magnificent and wrenchingly moving, the film tells the story of a boy whose inability to see the world only enhances his ability to feel its powerful forces. Released in 1999.

Le Grand VoyageReda, a young secular

French Moroccan, is about to take his college entrance exams when his father insists that he drive him across Europe and the Middle East on the hajj. An Islamic road movie about family, culture, and the generation gap, Le Grand Voyage evokes universal emotions. Released in 2004.

Laila’s BirthdayCaught up in a morass of red tape while trying to work in Palestine, dignified judge Abu Laila (Mohammed Bakri) resorts to driving a taxi to make a living. On his daughter Laila's seventh birthday, his only goal is to get home early with a present and a cake. But he's confronted with numerous absurd difficulties as he navigates passengers through the occupied territory. Filmmaker Rashid Masharawi grew up in the Gaza Strip's Shati refugee camp. 2008 release.

Available to watch instantly on various streaming sites.

The Lemon Tree (Israel) Salma, a Palestinian

widow, barely makes ends meet caring for her beloved lemon grove. When the Israeli defense minister moves in next door, the security forces decide to uproot the trees to protect his home. Salma and a young lawyer go to court to prevent it. The tentative relationship between Salma and the minister’s wife develops slowly. Released in 2006.

Osama (Afghanistan)Osama is a powerful, challenging, and deeply rewarding film about how Afghan women fought back against oppressive Taliban rule. A group of widows who've lost their sons to the war protest the Taliban rule that they may not leave their homes without an accompanying male relative. Desperate , one mother gives her young daughter a boy's haircut and sends her to work in a shop. With some guided discussion, this film provide a grasp of life under the Taliban regime. Released in 2003.

Santa Claus in BaghdadBased on the short story by Elsa Marston, this 25-minute film explores the difficulties faced by an educated, middle-class family under the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. Released in 2008.

ShankabootThe first Arabic language web drama series, Shankaboot has produced five season since 2010 and is widely popular. Videos can be viewed on youtube. Driven by the online boom in the region, especially with efforts to increase Arabic content on social networks and search engines, Lebanese Batoota Films co-operated with the BBC World Service Trust, to fund a Lebanese four-minute episode soap. One of the aims of the series is to present Beirut life and the life in Lebanon in the most realistic style.

West Bank StoryMirrored on the classic American musical, this

2005 comedic film takes a different approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. David, an Israeli soldier, and Fatima, a Palestinian fast food cashier, are an unlikely couple who fall in love amidst the animosity of their families’ dueling falafel stands in the West Bank.

Documentaries

Allah Made Me FunnyAllah Made Me Funny follows three acclaimed comedians on stage and off as they reveal the humorous truth of what it's really like to be Muslim in America. Mo Amer, Azhar Usman, and Preacher Moss poke fun at themselves, their communities, government, human nature and the tricky predicament of living in post-9/11 America.

See trailer here. Streaming of this and other UPF films available without cost through Unity Productions Foundation. There’s also a dialogue guide here. The film was released in 2008 and the group remains active today.

Cities of LightCities of Light tells of the triumphs and shortcomings, achievements and ultimate failures of a centuries-long period when Muslims, Christians, and Jews inhabited the same far corner of Western Europe and built a society that lit the Dark Ages.

The history of Islamic Spain demonstrates that when religious diversity is accommodated within a social and political system, problems and tensions may still exist, but peaceful religious pluralism can be achieved. When a power system or religious movement rejects heterogeneity and insists on a imposing a single-minded orthodoxy, the impacts are felt by all members of the society. 2007 release.

Glass House Iranian girls struggling

with drug abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence and more try to put their lives together in a Tehran halfway house. A gritty documentary that gives insight into Iran’s underclass, but also into Iranians’ own struggles to combat their various social problems. Rent to stream from Amazon. Released in 2009.

Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think

An educator’s guide is available for this new UPF film, based on extensive Gallup polling of Muslims around the world. The surprising findings will confound stereotypes and lead viewers to understand Muslims based on “facts, not fear.” Released in 2009.

Iraq in FragmentsNominated for Best Documentary at the 2007 Academy Awards, Iraq In Fragments offers a series of intimate, passionately-felt portraits: A fatherless 11-year-old is apprenticed to the domineering owner of a Baghdad garage; Moqtada Al-Sadr followers in two cities are profiled; and a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence, which has allowed them a measure of freedom previously denied. This is a stunningly captured, poetically rendered documentary of war-torn Iraq as seen through the eyes of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

Available for purchase at Amazon.

Our Summer in TehranThis new film by Justine Shapiro, creator of the acclaimed Promises, follows her and her young son as they spend a summer with 3 Iranian families: a religious family with ties to the government; a cosmopolitan, secular family; and a single mom who is an actress. Filmed in 2007, this documentary gives us an unprecedented look into Iran’s middle class. Educators’ guide available.

PromisesPromises is a 2001 documentary film that examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspectives of seven children living in the Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Israeli neighborhoods of Jerusalem. A facilitator’s guide has been created by a team of educators and the film’s writers.

Other Film Guides

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