- 3000 Nights
WHAT A MOVIE! Everything about it was absolutely perfect. This movie is about a Palestinian civilian woman, Layal, arrested by Israeli forces for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Layal discovered that she was pregnant after a couple of days of residing in the Israeli prison. The movie takes you on a bumpy journey of a mother having a child in an Israeli prison.
However, this movie isn't just about motherhood, it's also about Palestinians fighting against discrimination and the oppression of the Israeli soldiers/government.
There were scenes that will forever be embedded in my memory. And the song (يا ظلام السجن) that you will hear at the end of the movie, also sung by some of the actors in one scene was the perfect add-on. It was written by Najib El-Rayyes, a Syrian journalist who was arrested for opposing French colonialism and writing against it. Since then many prisoners around the Levant land have sung the song as it is filled with hopeful words.
2. Where do we go from here?
How can we go on making a list of the best Arabic movies without including a Nadine Labaki movie? This movie will make you laugh, then cry, then be shocked, then scared, then you will probably dance. It was like riding a roller coaster of emotions. The movie revolves around a very important topic that is a serious issue in Lebanon, the religious sectarian issue. The women of a small town try their best to end this problem after losing many of their loved ones to a religious sectarian war between the Christians and the Muslims of the village.
The colors, the meaning behind many scenes, the music, the dancing, the clothing, the jokes, and the aesthetic were truly amusing to experience.
3. Wajda
From Palestine to Lebanon to Saudi Arabia. Wajda is a small girl who decides to challenge the society she lives in, which tells her she can't ride a bike simply because she is a girl. Wajda then signs up for a Quran recitation competition to win the money and use it to buy her bike. What's fascinating about this film is there isn't a girl in the middle east who did not go through at least one similar situation to those Wajda went through. Telling girls to not laugh too loud or sit a certain way and backing it up with some “religious” beliefs is one of those things that many middle eastern girls can relate to. I think that's what makes it so incredible, it's how relatable and raw it is.
4. Heaven without people
This banned from Lebanese cinema movie shows you a typical Arabic family gathering (minus some parts). The family reunion was slowly driven into chaos and ended with a huge family fight. The truth behind how the conversations almost always turn around and return to be about politics, and how our countries are falling apart is painfully realistic. The characters were obviously chosen in a very intelligent way to demonstrate the people you would find in almost every Arabic family. The kind brother taking care of everyone, the naughty kid who only wants to spend time with his/her friends and not his/her family, the in-law who talks over his wife, the sweet mother making sure everyone is eating, the father who keeps the conversation going, the quite housemaid, the insensitive brother about his girlfriend's feelings, and finally the loud sister.
One thing that made this movie extra special is how the director choose to film this movie. The camera was not steady, instead, it was moving around the table giving you a sense of you being there with them.
