The Top 20 Greatest Films from the Middle East and North Africa

(I wrote the following material years ago and I'm too lazy to parse through everything and edit it to a refined, leaner presentation. It would take a gallant effort and be an upheaval. If there's any inconsistencies and errors then it's your fault for noticing them.)

To begin, it should obviously be noted that this list isn't necessarily limited to films made specifically in the Middle East, but also includes films from North Africa (Egypt, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia - extensions of the so-called 'Arab world', outside of what's mostly recognized as the Middle East), South Asia (India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan), and Central Asia (Afghanistan). This choice was ultimately made for the obvious reasons that, often in Western discourse when discussing the Middle East, countries outside of the Middle East in those areas chronicled above often get thrown into discussions about the Middle East because of the role of Islam in their cultures... and also (disappointingly) because many ignorant and misinformed (i.e. racist and xenophobic) Westerners think that all 'brown people over there' (also known pejoratively as "the Muslim world" by many Westerners) are homogeneous, and thus viewed as such as a dangerous and vile monolith. Though geography would conclusively proclaim otherwise, which states get lumped into the category of "the Middle East" is mostly determined by its (negatively stereotyped) reputation in the imaginations of the international community -- 'brown people' who enforce Islam, oppress women and minorities, and who (militaristically and/or ideologically) support 'terrorism'. (That's how we sometimes get Pashtun tribes in Afghanistan, Bengali-speakers in Bangladesh, native French-speaking north Africans, and the Persian-majority in Iran all conveniently bundled up together under this neat "Middle East" handle.) Additionally, I chose that specific title to the list because titling it as "The Top 20 Greatest Films from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia" is a bit too clunky, especially considering how most Westerners are unfamiliar with what exactly constitutes as North Africa and South Asia, so I thought that the shorter and less confusing title would (hopefully) suffice. What I'm trying to say here is that it's all very messy and complicated. I can't really understand it either.

In parenthesis, beneath my personal commentary of each film, will be the Middle Eastern country that the movie was from. I ultimately chose to do this because Western films that cover and take place in the Middle East are sometimes mistaken by Western audiences as actual films from there. A few examples of that include "Persepolis" (from France), "Incendies" (from Canada), "Mustang" (from France), "Slumdog Millionaire" (from the U.K.), "Gandhi" (from the U.K.), "The Namesake" (from the U.S.A.), "Water" (from Canada), Fatih Akin's films such as "Head-On" and "The Edge of Heaven" (both from Germany). I'll concede that for some of these movies it was a bit of a stretch in trying to pinpoint only one country of origin to them, when it was typically much more complicated and less nuanced than that (see "Turtles Can Fly" for one example of just that).

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The overall filmmaking industry across the Middle East remains one of the more underappreciated international markets of cinema, overlooked by both western and non-western audiences alike. The wider world as a whole ignorantly misunderstands the Middle East as pejoratively nothing more than a place of 'terrorism, Islam, and female inequality'. Whether left-right, liberal-conservative, what gets lost in the conversation about this part of the world are the political complexities, histories with near and afar empires, and the mistrust of foreign powers that have wrought the region with elitist corruption and a sense of despair among their young people (who make up large parts of their respective states' populace). Arguably worst of all, the identity - the individual and the human - of the peoples both living in and from the area have been devalued to scorn from a world entrenched with xenophobia and racism; becoming "the other" in the eyes of many. That's where the broader cinema of the Middle East comes in: Films produced directly from the region have provided people from there a voice and platform to tell their stories and express themselves, without interloping orientalists reducing them to merely stereotypes and caricatures, as is commonplace with media works produced outside of the Middle East (the West has been the most at guilt of this). If you would like to learn more about the Middle East, it's best to go straight to the source than relying instead mostly on white, western sources (such as myself). Movies from the region touch on many heavy topics, such as hopelessness, individuality, family issues, damaging wars and conflicts, gender parity, political freedom, deconstructing religious orthodoxy, divisions within society and culture, to name more than a few. Though, these films are much more than that - as are most films - and they shouldn't be labeled to only as such.

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Below is the number count of movies that I've seen by each country in and around the Middle Eastern region. In total, I've seen 80 films from the area, spanning across 14 countries -- Iran, Zionist entity, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Palestine, Algeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Morocco, Jordan, and Iraq. If there are any movies from that particular country that I have seen, but is not included in the rankings, then they will all be alphabetically-listed in parenthesis next to their respective countries (directly beneath here). An asterisk (*) next to a movie indicates that I intend to add that selected one to the ranking (and with my commentary on the movie) whenever I actually get to it:

1.) Iran -- 33 (Films that missed the cut for the list: 24 Frames; Baran; Children of Heaven; The Circle; The Color of Paradise; Crimson Gold; Fireworks Wednesday; Gabbeh; Kandahar; Hit the Road; No Date No Signature; No One Knows About Persian Cats; Offside; Taxi Tehran; The Past; The Song of Sparrows; This Is Not a Film; Through the Olive Trees; A Time for Drunken Horses; Turtles Can Fly; Under the Shadow; The White Balloon; The Wind Will Carry Us)

2.) Zionist entity -- 13 (Ajami; The Band's Visit; A Borrowed Identity; Eyes Wide Open; Footnote; Foxtrot; Gett; In Between; Lemon Tree; Out in the Dark; Zero Motivation)

T-3.) Turkey -- 5 (About Dry Grasses; Three Monkeys; The Wild Pear Tree)
T-3.) Egypt -- 5 (Asmaa; Clash; Sheikh Jackson)
T-3.) Lebanon -- 5 (The Attack; The Insult; Caramel; Capernaum; Where Do We Go Now?)

T-6.) Palestine -- 4 (Omar; Paradise Now; The Present)
T-6.) Syria -- 4 (For Sama; Last Men in Aleppo; Return to Homs; The Cave)

8.) Tunisia -- 3 (As I Open My Eyes; Beauty and the Dogs; Nefta Football League)

T-9.) Algeria -- 2 (Days of Glory)
T-9.) Morocco -- 2 (Horses of God; The Blue Caftan)

T-11.) Mauritania -- 1
T-11.) Saudi Arabia -- 1 (Wadjda)
T-11.) Jordan -- 1 (Theeb)
T-11.) Iraq -- 1 (Son of Babylon)