Middle Eastern & African Cinema

10 powerful films from the Middle East and Africa — stories of childhood, war, womanhood, faith, resistance, migration, and survival.

This playlist features Capernaum, Timbuktu, Incendies, Wadjda, Theeb, Atlantics, Where Do We Go Now?, Cairo 678, Papicha, The Square.

Films in this playlist

1. Capernaum — Nadine Labaki · 2018. A raw, furious film about poverty, childhood, and the moral failure of adults and systems.
2. Timbuktu — Abderrahmane Sissako · 2014. A poetic, painful film about beauty, absurdity, repression, and quiet resistance.
3. Incendies — Denis Villeneuve · 2010. A devastating mystery where family history and political horror become inseparable.
4. Wadjda — Haifaa al-Mansour · 2012. A small story with enormous emotional force — rebellion through ordinary desire.
5. Theeb — Naji Abu Nowar · 2014. A survival film where landscape, silence, and boyhood become mythic.
6. Atlantics — Mati Diop · 2019. A haunting film about migration, labor, love, and the dead returning through desire.
7. Where Do We Go Now? — Nadine Labaki · 2011. A tragicomic film about grief, faith, comedy, and women holding communities together.
8. Cairo 678 — Mohamed Diab · 2010. A direct, angry social drama that turns public space into a battlefield of dignity.
9. Papicha — Mounia Meddour · 2019. A film about youth, style, friendship, and creative resistance under threat.
10. The Square — Jehane Noujaim · 2013. Urgent documentary cinema about hope, betrayal, public space, and the cost of revolution.