Topic

The Arab world

One language, twenty-two states and no agreement about what that means.

5: in film
13:00: average
65 min: in total
41: across the network

The Arab world across the network →

All briefs5

13:00

Arabian Nights

Pier Paolo Pasolini · 1974

Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1974 Arabian Nights is the final film of his ‘Trilogy of Life’, adapting fragments from the One Thousand and One Nights across real locations in Yemen, Iran, Ethiopia and Nepal. It abandons the frame narrative to focus on bodily pleasure, poetic recitation and episodic storytelling, using non-professional actors, long takes and Ennio Morricone’s sparse score. Though formally daring and visually rich, its resistance to psychology and narrative cohesion divides viewers. It won the Cannes Grand Prix in 1974.

13:00

Cairo Station

Youssef Chahine · 1958

Youssef Chahine’s 1958 Cairo Station is a tightly wound drama set in Cairo’s main train station, following Qinawi — a lame newspaper seller whose obsession with a cold-drink vendor curdles into violence amid a backdrop of union organising and urban anonymity. Shot in Egyptian Arabic with neorealist restraint and noir-inflected tension, it treats environment as psychology made visible. Though initially controversial in Egypt, it has since been recognised as a landmark of Arab and world cinema.

13:00

Chronicle of the Years of Fire

Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina · 1975

Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975), directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, follows Ahmed, an Algerian peasant, across seventeen years leading to the 1954 uprising against French rule. Structured in six chapters, it charts the slow, embodied formation of national consciousness under colonialism — through drought, conscription, broken promises and massacre. Shot by Marcello Gatti and scored by Philippe Arthuys, it favours duration over drama, collective experience over individual psychology. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and remains a landmark of postcolonial cinema.

13:00

Trances

Ahmed El Maanouni · 1981

Trances (1981) is Ahmed El Maanouni’s docufiction portrait of Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane, filmed in Morocco during live performances, interviews, and everyday moments. Blending contemporary footage with silent colonial-era archival clips, it foregrounds voice, rhythm, and communal presence over narrative or exposition. Restored in 2007 and distributed by Criterion, it remains a singular work of musical and cultural testimony.

13:00

Lawrence of Arabia

David Lean · 1962

David Lean’s 1962 epic follows T. E. Lawrence’s immersion in the Arab Revolt during the First World War. Peter O'Toole stars in a performance defined by restraint and volatility, supported by Freddie Young’s monumental Super Panavision 70 cinematography and Maurice Jarre’s evocative score. The film prioritises atmosphere over exposition, using vast, still landscapes to chart internal collapse and reinvention. Though rooted in history, it functions as a psychological portrait — of identity, allegiance and the cost of translation between worlds.