All Quiet on the Western Front tells the gripping story of a young German soldier on the Western Front of World War I. Paul and his comrades experience first-hand how the initial euphoria of war turns into desperation and fear as they fight for their lives, and each other, in the trenches. The film from director Edward Berger is based on the world renowned bestseller of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque.
Holy Spider
2023 Oscar® Selection, Denmark Female journalist Rahimi (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer who believes he is doing the work of God, cleansing the streets of sinners by murdering sex workers. As the body count mounts, and Rahimi draws closer to exposing his crimes, the opportunity for justice grows harder to attain as the ‘Spider Killer’ is embraced by many as a hero. Based on the horrific true story of serial killer Saeed Hanaei, acclaimed writer-director Ali Abbasi (BORDER) unveils a gripping crime thriller, and a daring indictment of a society in which rough justice is routinely a fact of life.
ALcarras
2023 Oscar® Selection, Spain In a small Catalonian village, the peach farmers of the Solé family spend every summer together picking fruit from their orchard. But when new plans arise to install solar panels and cut down trees, this tight-knit group suddenly faces eviction — and the loss of far more than their home. Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlinale, the sophomore film from Carla Simón (SUMMER 1993) is a sun-dappled, deeply moving ensemble portrait of the countryside and a community’s unbreakable bonds.
The Blue Caftan
2023 Oscar® Selection, Morocco Halim is one of the few enduring maalems, or master tailors, in one of Morocco’s oldest quarters. Along with his wife Mina, he runs a traditional caftan store and services demanding clientele. But when a talented apprentice is hired to help keep up with orders, the young man’s presence and effect on the closeted Halim finally force the couple to face the truth about their relationship. The Blue Caftan is a sensitive, perspective-shifting ode to cultural tradition and the craft of love.
RETURN TO SEOUL
2023 Oscar® Selection, Cambodia Freddie (Park Ji-Min), a young French woman, finds herself spontaneously tracking down the South Korean birth parents she has never met while on vacation in Seoul. From this seemingly simple premise, Cambodian-French filmmaker Davy Chou spins an unpredictable, careering narrative that takes place over the course of several years, always staying close on the roving heels of its impetuous protagonist, who moves to her own turbulent rhythms (as does the galvanizing Park, a singular new screen presence). Chou elegantly creates probing psychological portraiture from a character whose feelings of unbelonging have kept her at an emotional distance from nearly everyone in her life; it’s an enormously moving film made with verve, sensitivity, and boundless energy.
CLOSE
2023 Oscar® Selection, Belgium Leo and Remi are two thirteen-year-old best friends, whose seemingly unbreakable bond is suddenly, tragically torn apart. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Lukas Dhont’s second film is an emotionally transformative and unforgettable portrait of the intersection of friendship and love, identity and independence, and heartbreak and healing.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is an epic, emotional and interconnected story about internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.
All That Breathes
As legions of birds fall from New Delhi’s darkening skies, and the city smoulders with social unrest, two brothers race to save a casualty of the turbulent times: the black kite, a majestic bird of prey essential to their city’s ecosystem.
Navalny
Poison always leaves a trail. The fly-on-the-wall documentary follows Russian opposition leader, Alexey Navalny, through his political rise, attempted assassination and search to uncover the truth. #Navalny
BONUS
EO
EO, a gray donkey with melancholic eyes and a curious spirit, begins life as a circus performer before escaping across the Polish and Italian countryside, where he encounters a troubled young priest, a Countess, a rowdy soccer team, and experiences society’s cultural and environmental ills, all on his journey to freedom. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes 2022, and Poland’s entry for the 2023 Academy Awards.
The Quiet Girl
#TheQuietGirl, is a delicate drama that follows a shy nine-year-old who has been separated from her immediate family and left in the care of two distant relatives for the summer. After sun-dappled days spent milking cows, peeling potatoes and fetching water from the well, the Initially uncommunicative child soon opens up to her foster parents. Textural and tender, this award-winning film shows that home is where you feel loved.
The Last Duel is a historical action drama film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, based on the 2004 book The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager.
I would not have added this to my list if it wasn’t that the events leading up to the duel are divided into three distinct chapters, reflecting the contradictory perspectives of the three main characters. This is a depiction of every human story, when there exists different perspectives about them from the same members of the event, sometimes contradictory. I think that applies to all stories from history. If we keep that in mind when reading stories from history, we will give some space for difference in prespective.
First of all, you might think, why 2021-2002 and why now? Well, I have a planner that is my assistant, my manager, my coach, and my mentor … it is called the W Planner, and since it is undated and customizable, I make my “planning year” equal to 11 months (winning a month a year in planning). So the 2021-2022 year was from August 2021 to June 2022, and hence I have made my lists at the end of this “W Planner Year”.
Here are the list from bottom to top:
5. Road Runner
It’s not where you go. It’s what you leave behind… Chef, writer, adventurer, provocateur: Anthony Bourdain lived his life unabashedly.
4. At Berkley
If you don’t know Frederick Wiseman (born January 1, 1930), then you don’t know documentary film making. He is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and theater director. His work is “devoted primarily to exploring American institutions”.[1] He has been called “one of the most important and original filmmakers working today”.
Wiseman uses Observational Mode to craft the theme of the film, which is a prominent style within direct cinema but he doesn’t like to agree:
What I try to do is edit the films so that they will have a dramatic structure. That is why I object to some extent to the term “observational cinema” or cinéma vérité, because observational cinema, to me at least, connotes just hanging around with one thing being as valuable as another, and that is not true. At least, that is not true for me, and cinéma verité is just a pompous French term that has absolutely no meaning as far as I’m concerned. Wiseman has been known to describe his films as “Reality Fictions”, usually in defense that his films are pieces of art
If you are not used to cinema verite, then be ready to be bored to death, unless that is what you are looking for .. being submerged in the topic of the film … in this case it is University of California at Berkley.
3. The Alpinist
I get rock climbing and solo climbing and free climbing when you become a hero and a brand ambassador … but being a solo free climber breaking world records one after the other with hating cameras or celebrity .. that was shocking to me.
I could not stop watching this documentary once I started, and it ends with an existential shock, which I won’t give away for you.
2. The Mole Agent
It is not clear if this is a documentary or a film, but I would like to consider it a documentary. If you have a member of the family growing old, or if you have the concern of being old one day and entering into a nursing home, it is important to take a moment to be there within this documentary, that will make you rethink the meanings of life.
1. I Am Greta
One of the iconic faces of the 21st century bringing the topic of global warming to its appropriate level of urgency. We will remember her more if Global Warming doesn’t stop and we and our children suffer the consequences.
Dark, and entertainingly disappointing at times, Call Soul gets too close to comfort but then always manages to depart. A show that will leave you neither happy nor sad. You are not happy because no ending is happy in its numerous intertwined stories; You are not sad because at least it is only a show.
4. Inventing Anna
True story that continues till today to unfold. A classical millennial mix up between reality and delusion, and pop culture unquenched pursuit of fame and luxury.
3. The Squid Game
Existential game that is riddled with symbolism, and too cruel to leave you waiting for the next episode. A game of life, obsessive to teenagers and adults alike.
2. Narcos Mexico Season 3 and 4
1. Lake Ozark Season 4
Leaves you wanting more. It will indulge you to the point of hate and love together. Morality is extremely pragmatic and the whole show rotates around moral judgements and entangles you in them.
Dark relaxing comedy of friendship that borders intimacy, and the long lasting pursuit of love that is hidden under your nose. It is a perfect pick for a relaxing date night with subtle romance and perfect sarcasm.
9. Stillwater with Matt Demon
Matt intensity brings this movie to life. I love the clash between American bravery and honesty with the complexities of French society and teenage life. As a father of two daughters, I found myself relating to the emotions of Matt, and it is the first film set up in Marseille that I watched.
8. Perfect Strangers (أصحاب ولا أعز)
I watched the French version few years ago and it is a wonderful concept. Now this is history … that is Netflix producing a strong Arab film with a strong cast … pretty much some of the best actors and actresses in the Arab World.
The film is full of controversy as far as the Arab World is concerned, but for Arab Expats, it seems very realistic. I also love how you mix Arabs from different nationalities so smoothly. Goes along my theory of the inevtiablity of the Awaited Arab State.
Watch it and if you hate it, make sure to discuss it.
7. Uncle Frank
I don’t usually like films focused on sexual orientations, but this film had a beautiful dynamic, and gave a glimpse of the suffering of any person hiding a natural tendency .. .in this case homosexaulity in the American 60’s or 70’s.
6. Arab Blues
A realistic comedic take on clash of cultures for Arab Expats when returning home. The kindness makes up for the ignorance, and the expat Arab is lost translating and mending civilizations.
What a beautiful contemplative narrative of the complexities of raising children in todays age, and to be a child. Poetic, nostalgic, and existential, it is a rare creation of modern American film.
3. Red Rocket
Much more that the impression it first gives. There a totally hidden layer in the film, and you feel it, it feels you, and it makes you uncomfortable, but you learn to live with it till the end.
2. The Worst Person in the World
The Norwegian film doesn’t fail the Scandinavian film genre of deep thought, and extensive discovery of emotions, unweaving our mind and feelings in a post-modern way. Films like this always leave you thinking, and warning, they may change you.
The film is about many things, so many natural ends that are just part of the cruelty of nature. We blame ourselves sometimes for them, some more than others, and this film will unpack this for you.
1. Pleasure
I watched it in Paris, and I don’t think it will get to American screens due to its extreme problematic rating. Borders a porn genre, but totally not. This film is more than a journey to the behind the scenes story of the want-to-be porn stars; it is a journey to the concept of pleasure in humanity, success, and morality. This film will split your friends opinions, and it might split you too.
I watched Ahed’s Knee, an Israeli film by Nadav Lapid, a very advanced director whose stories fragment and detour in shocking ways.
Ahed AlTamimi is a teenage Palestinian activist. She was born in 1997 in the village of Nabi Saleh, which is located in the occupied West Bank. Her family has been involved in resistance against the Israeli occupation for years and she has been participating since she was a little girl.
In December 2017, Ahed slapped an Israeli soldier who was guarding her house. The incident went viral on social media and led to Ahed being arrested by Israeli authorities and put into prison for eight months.
An Israeli member of Parliament suggested she be shot in the knee. The film starts focused on producing a show about Ahed’s Knee and then becomes more about the director’s journey and censorship in showing his film.
The film starts focused on producing a show about Ahed’s knee, but quickly evolves into an exploration of the decay of Israeli society and the rise of censorship as a way to protect such a decaying society.
Numerous dance scenes show the randomness of cultural production and arbitrariness of censorship. It is also a surreal representation of the different facets of Israeli society. The director here is making serious subjects not serious by using dance to represent them.
The camera is hijacked later by a monologue that I saw as a way for the director to speak to the government and through it to the Israeli people.
The film disintegrates and questions the concept of negative aggrievement, toxic tensions, oppressive systems, irrational censorship, and through the desert settings, the emptiness at the end of this whole project called Israel.
“No one sees anything. Ever. They watch, but they don’t understand.” So observes Connie Nielsen in Olivier Assayas’s hallucinatory, globe-spanning Demonlover, a postmodern neonoir thriller and media critique in which nothing—not even the film itself—is what it appears to be. Nielsen plays Diane de Monx, a Volf Corporation executive turned spy for rival Mangatronics in the companies’ battle over the lucrative market of Internet adult animation. But Diane may not be the only player at Volf with a hidden agenda: both romantic interest Hervé (Charles Berling) and office enemy Elise (Chloë Sevigny) seem to know her secret and can easily use it against her for their own purposes. As the stakes grow higher and Diane ventures into deadlier territory, Assayas explores the connections between multinational businesses and extreme underground media as well as the many ways 21st-century reality increasingly resembles violent, disorienting fiction.
9. WOJNAROWICZ
Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker is a fiery and urgent documentary portrait of downtown New York City artist, writer, photographer, and activist David Wojnarowicz. As New York City became the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Wojnarowicz weaponized his work and waged war against the establishment’s indifference to the plague until his death from it in 1992 at the age of 37. Exclusive access to his breathtaking body of work – including paintings, journals, and films – reveals how Wojnarowicz emptied his life into his art and activism. Rediscovered answering machine tape recordings and intimate recollections from Fran Lebowitz, Gracie Mansion, Peter Hujar, and other friends and family help present a stirring portrait of this fiercely political, unapologetically queer artist.
Marie recently found herself abandoned on Christmas Eve by her husband and has been falling apart ever since. Berling has been the eternal “bacherlorette” who outwardly denies her age and lives the sweet life, all seems perfect until we find out about her complicated relationship with her daughter. Vanja is still living in the past and has never been able to move on from her late husband. The three life long girlfriends decides to travel to Italy together to attend a cooking course in Puglia and here they each find the opportunity to redefine themselves and acknowledge that the most important thing in life is their friendship and that it’s never too late to live a more fulfilling life.
7. THE GOOD TRAITOR
April 9, 1940: Denmark is invaded by Nazi Germany with demands for immediate and unconditional surrender. The government surrenders after a few hours and begins cooperating with the Nazis. On the other side of the Atlantic is Denmark’s ambassador to the United States of America, a daredevil and a man of the world – Henrik Kauffmann, who is willing to put everything on the line. He refuses to follow the German directives and engineers a rebellious plan to defeat Hitler and give the Danish people their freedom back.
6. THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY
Based on a true story, this entertaining and informative film took place in 1972. It’s about an outlandish study on the effects of marijuana on young women. This film centers around five young women who shared a common goal: to make some money and have a fresh start in life. It began as fun, like Hippiie camp, and many of the young women thrived and at their given tasks despite their “toke times”. The scientists, frustrated and surprised with the women’s motivation, decided to give them ever-increasing THC levels. This didn’t stop most of the women’s productivity until many become zombified by the excessive doses. The girls used their unique strengths, resilience and friendship in order to overcome this extreme adversity. To this day, the women still do not know the results. They deserve their story to be told, and they deserve answers.
5. Collective
In 2015, a fire at Bucharest’s Colectiv club leaves 27 dead and 180 injured. Soon, more burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life-threatening. Then a doctor blows the whistle to a team of investigative journalists. One revelation leads to another as the journalists start to uncover vast health care fraud. When a new health minister is appointed, he offers unprecedented access to his efforts to reform the corrupt system but also to the obstacles he faces. Following journalists, whistle-blowers, burn victims, and government officials, Collective is an uncompromising look at the impact of investigative journalism at its best.
4. Nawal El Saadawi: A Daring Legacy
Nawal el Saadawi, an Egyptian author, activist and physician who became an emblem of the struggle for women’s rights in the patriarchal Arab world and campaigned against female genital mutilation, which she had endured at age 6, died on Sunday March 21, 2021, in Cairo. She was 89. Muslimish invites you to a seminar titled “Nawal El Saadawi: a daring legacy” with host Wissam Charafeddine, coFounder of Muslimish, and Guests Dr. Ginan Rauf, Barbara Nimri Aziz, and Zeinab Assaf Lecanu on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, at 7PM EST. Join us for the live discussion with your comments and questions.
3. FATHER
2. MINARI
A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
1. THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN
Sam Ali, a young sensitive and impulsive Syrian, left his country for Lebanon to escape the war. To be able to travel to Europe and live with the love of his life, he accepts to have his back tattooed by one of the World’s most sulfurous contemporary artist. Turning his own body into a prestigious piece of art, Sam will however come to realize that his decision might actually mean anything but freedom.
Films are an educational opportunity that can be worth multiple months of reading. At the same time, film watching is a great family activity because of the shared feelings and emotions, the opportunity for discussions, and the insights we get of each other’s thinking and feelings.
Here are 5 films I recommend for you and your kids this Spring Break.
1. Stray
STRAY explores what it means to live as a being without status or security, following three strays – Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal – as they embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society that allow us an unvarnished portrait of human life — and their own canine culture. Zeytin, fiercely independent, embarks on adventures through the city at night; Nazar, nurturing and protective, easily befriends the humans around her; while Kartal, a shy puppy living on the outskirts of a construction site, finds companions in the security guards who care for her. The disparate lives of Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal intersect when they each form intimate bonds with a group of young Syrians who share the streets with them. Whether they lead us into bustling streets or decrepit ruins, the gaze of these strays acts as a window into the overlooked corners of society: women in loveless marriages, protesters without arms, refugees without sanctuary. STRAY is a critical observation of human civilization through the unfamiliar gaze of dogs and a sensory voyage into new ways of seeing.
2. Captain Abu Raed
When an old airport janitor finds a captain’s hat in the trash, he gets pulled into the lives of children in his poor neighborhood. He weaves imaginary stories of his world adventures to offer hope in the face of their harsh reality.
3. Raya and the Last Dragon
Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when sinister monsters known as the Druun threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, those same monsters have returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the last dragon in order to finally stop the Druun for good. However, along her journey, she’ll learn that it’ll take more than dragon magic to save the world—it’s going to take trust as well. From directors Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, co-directors Paul Briggs and John Ripa, producers Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho, and featuring the voices of Kelly Marie Tran as Raya and Awkwafina as Sisu. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Raya and the Last Dragon” will debut simultaneously on Disney+ Premier Access and in theatres on March 5, 2021.
4. Zozo
This film is a Lebanese-Swedish movie, directed by the Lebanese-Swedish Joseph Fares. It’s not the first to show the Lebanese civil war from children eyes (check for West Beirut, and In the Battlefields) but it shows how the war and its consequences follows a kid beyond the country’s borders. So for a boy, once in Sweden, his life is not necessary easier than how it was back in a flaming Lebanon. In fact, I found that in this movie, Zozo’s life in Lebanon was full (relatively) of joy, while when he arrived to Sweden it was reduced almost only to disappointments, some may think that it contradicts expectations, some my not share the same opinion, but either way, it was a beautiful way to present such a transition for a young child. In fact, it goes beyond to show how hard for an immigrant (young or old) to integrate into a foreign society (here the grandfather mark a good example). From what I could’ve understand, the story is a fiction, but related somewhat to the director’s life since he left Lebanon during the civil war when he was ten years old. Following Danielle Arbid and Ziad Doueiri’s way to make peace with their past.
Globally the film was good, make fair use of special effects (I think that funding films in Sweden is easier than Lebanon). Actors were pretty good as well; Antoinette Turk’s (playing Rita) acted nicely, Imad Creidi’s (as Zozo) role surprised me with his Swedish language and good performance for a child of his age. And then there is Carmen Lebbos, playing perfectly, as she always do, the mother role model.
The script was nicely written from a child eyes, things go smoothly. Though I should point to some minor flaws that come up when trying to see things rationally. For instance, how can a ten years old child go from east Beirut to the mountains (walking??!), then to the airport that easy in a city shredded into two parts? Then once in Sweden writing to Rita without having her address. In the end I remind that this feature was the representative for Sweden for the 78th academy awards. It needs to be seen since it’s a nicely done good movie.
5. Ghadi (if you haven’t watched it already)
In a small Lebanese costal village, growing fear by the neighbors towards Ghadi, a young special needs boy in their midst forces his father Leba, the town’s only music teacher to concoct a crazy scheme to convince his fellow townspeople that his son is not the “demon” they fear but rather an angel who holds all the answers to their problems.
Wissam Charafeddine 