At a time when people of Arab, Middle Eastern or North African heritage are being rampantly maligned across the globe, in both news bulletins and on social media, cinema has never played such a vital role in shifting negative perceptions.
Looking back at 2024 in film, there has been an excellent number of stories from and about the MENA world that humanise those from the region.
From powerful documentaries cutting through mainstream Zionist propaganda to an exquisite character study of a queer Arab drag queen in London working out the kinks in their identity, here are some of the best MENA films released in the last year.
Four Daughters
Kaouther Ben Hania follows up the extraordinary The Man Who Sold His Skin with this stirring blend of documentary and fiction. She tells the story of Olfa, a mother of four daughters in Tunisia, two of which have disappeared.
Using actors to represent the missing daughters, Ben Hania brings them together with Olfa, and her remaining daughters, to recreate scenes from their family history, forcing them all to confront their deepest vulnerabilities, shame and regrets. Powerful and provocative storytelling.
Layla
The feature directorial debut of British-Iraqi actor and filmmaker Amrou Al-Kadhi, Layla is a beautifully irreverent portrait of a non-binary drag queen of Arab heritage, transcending categorisation as they look for love and self-acceptance in London.
Arthouse meets Bridget Jones, with a soulful injection of Sufi mysticism, it’s a film that, like its protagonist, won’t be boxed in – with Palestinian-Pakistani Bilal Hasna leading with earnest charm and flair.
Tomorrow’s Freedom
Tomorrow’s Freedom offers the story of Marwan Barghouti, AKA Palestine’s Nelson Mandela, who has been held as a political prisoner by Israel for two decades after being convicted of five counts of murder by directing terrorist attacks against civilians during the Second Intifada in what French International Criminal Lawyer Simon Foreman regards as an unfair trial.
Directors Georgia and Sophia Stott use Barghouti to represent the thousands of Palestinians unjustly held captive by Israel, using archive footage, interviews and a fly-on-the-wall portrait of his family striving to secure his freedom.
Read the full review here.
Nezouh
This is a gorgeous coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of war in Syria. French-Syrian filmmaker Soudade Kaadan takes a decidedly delicate approach, where violence is a foreboding presence but is kept in the periphery to focus on teen Zeina and the conflict between her parents.
When a bomb drops through their house, leaving an open hole in Zeina’s bedroom, her mother wants to leave. Her father refuses to walk the uncertain path of a refugee. Zeina meanwhile, dives deep into her imagination, taking us on a journey of magical realism.
Bye Bye Tiberias
Lina Soualem‘s Bye Bye Tiberias is a deeply poetic and personal account of her mother, actress Hiam Abbass, and the generational fractures in her family since their ancestors were expelled from their hometown, Tiberias, during the 1948 Nakba.
Abbass left Palestine to become a world-acclaimed actor in France, Hollywood and beyond but returned to her childhood home to excavate the wounds passed down through her family’s maternal bloodline.
Read the full review here.
Shayda
Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Holy Spider) takes the lead in Noora Niasari‘s deeply personal tale of a mother seeking autonomy in the face of household oppression.
Set in the 90s, and based on the director’s own experience, Shayda is an Iranian immigrant who after escaping her violent husband takes refuge with their daughter at a women’s shelter. There, she clashes with other residents and faces cruelty and misogyny within the Australian-Persian community. It’s a tender film in which Amir Ebrahimi shines.
Read the full review here.
The Teacher
British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi‘s searing feature debut centres on Saleh Bakri‘s Bassem, a teacher in the West Bank trying to prevent his students from violently retaliating to Israeli oppression.
As his relationship with one boy, Adam, develops he must contend with old wounds, heartache and the current and present danger concerning a kidnapped IDF soldier. Bakri offers a quietly devastating performance with the young cast proving just as formidable.
Read the full review here.
No Other Land
This award-winning documentary, shortlisted for the 2025 Oscars, concentrates on Israel’s forced displacement, destruction and violence towards Palestinians in the Masafar Yatta region in the West Bank.
Through the growing friendship of Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, the film bears witness to Israeli soldiers tearing down homes, evicting inhabitants and terrorising Palestinian locals.
As Basel and Yuval try to shed light on the crisis, they must contend with their very different positions and privileges because of their ethnic heritages. It’s a tough, heart-wrenching watch but an utterly important one.
Hanna Flint is a British-Tunisian critic, broadcaster and author of Strong Female Character: What Movies Teach Us. Her reviews, interviews and features have appeared in GQ, the Guardian, Elle, Town & Country, Mashable, Radio Times, MTV, Time Out, The New Arab, Empire, BBC Culture and elsewhere
Follow her on Instagram: @hannainesflint
