Best Saudi documentary movies

As daily airstrikes pound civilian targets in Syria, a group of indomitable first responders risk their lives to rescue victims from the rubble.

English reporter and documentarian, James Jones, in partnership with brave rebel Saudi Arabian undercover reporters, risk themselves under the laws of the land under the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), sometimes referred to the Islamic Religious Police. All this, in an effort to uncover the purpose and truth of the laws enforced by the immensely questioned Saudi Arabian government. You will see the side of Saudi Arabia that its government forbids from recording or viewing by their law and discover the harsh punishment for disobedience in the modern Saudi Arabia world.

While her father was in his deathbed, she and her nieces were playing in the rain.

From the turtles of the Farasan Islands to the ibex that dot the Asir Mountains, this documentary captures Saudi Arabia's diverse wildlife and scenery.

The lives of four Syrian families, resettled in Baltimore and under a deadline to become self-sufficient in eight months.

An intimate journey into the inner life of an aspiring athlete and the female weightlifting community of Alexandria. For 4 years, Zebiba goes through victories and defeats, including major losses that shape her, as she finds her way from dust to gold.

Working underground in the year before the legalization of cinema in Saudi Arabia, a team of mostly women makes its first feature film. Anonymous accounts of their experience are brought together in a melancholic narration. In the spirit of first films, a filmmaker documents the production in Jeddah with his first video camera from childhood.

Ahmed Shukairi's visit to Medina takes on a different character, where he tries to explore the great efforts that have been made to develop it while preserving its heritage at the same time.

Hasan Hourani, a Palestinian poet and illustrator, died aged 29 in Jaffa while trying to rescue his nephew from the sea. Shortly after, the filmmaker Mais Darwazah discovers his drawings and poems and feels drawn to Hourani's world— a universe outside space and time; a place of wonder, discovery, and freedom. Motivated by this kinship, Darwazah embarks on a journey to her homeland, Palestine: a place she has never known.

Shooting under extraordinary conditions, the director, who worked with Godard on his "Ici et Ailleurs" ("Here and Elsewhere") - this film was shot on the same 16mm camera - and founded the PLO's film division, covers conditions in Lebanon's refugee camps, the effects of Israeli bombardments, and the lives of guerrillas in training camps. "They Do Not Exist" is a stylistically unique work which explodes at the intersection between the political and the aesthetic.

In a relentless pursuit of a memory that reinforces her sense of belonging, Areeb gets in touch with a parkour athlete. Together, they navigate what is left of Gaza, exploring a cemetery, a run-down shopping centre and the remains of an airport.

January 2011 in Egypt was marked by anti-government demonstrations. While tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo, poor villagers in the country's south followed the tense situation on Tahrir Square on their TV screens and in the daily newspapers. It is from their perspective that this documentary captures the political changes in Egypt, from the toppling of President Mubarak to the election of Mohamed Morsi.

Interviews with six of the mass murderers from Sabra and Shatilla. The faces are in black and are not identifiable.

Sparked by the true story of Aya, a four-year-old Jordanian girl killed by her father because he believed her to be possessed, filmmaker Dalia Al Kury launches a fascinating investigation into a controversial and little-known aspect of Islamic culture: belief in djinn. The djinn are believed to be supernatural creatures that occupy a parallel world to ours and their emergence is associated with sexuality, political unrest, poverty and mental illness. The taboo subject of demonic possession remains broadly unresolved in the hearts and minds of some Muslims due to its complex and uncomfortable nature. Using a subjective, “undercover” style, Al Kury journeys into the obscure world of exorcists and the possessed, confronting their traditions and rituals. It makes for a telling ghost story that bares the filmmaker’s and her society’s subconscious underbelly.

"Legna: speak the Saharawi verse" is an audiovisual poetry story that traces the essential elements of the Saharawi culture, chaining the verses recited in a rigorous and evocative way in Hasania and Spanish by the poets and poetesses themselves. Poems that sing and evoke the essence of Bedouin material culture linked to the movement from Saquia el Hamra to Rio de Oro. A magical journey from the Draa River in the north to Agüenit and Leyuad on the southern border with Mauritania, from the coast with the white beaches of Bojador up to the vague boundaries of the Badia. A Saharawi national territory marked by the trace of the recent history of revolution, war, resistance (intifada) and waiting. Territory, history, culture, basted from poetry full of life, love and nostalgia.

The story of the Haram in Makkah, a place so revered that non-Muslims are forbidden from even setting foot in it. Every year millions of pilgrims come from all over the world to visit this holy city.

After the 1978 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, children try to sing the national anthem as citizens search for hope in the war-torn South.

As a group of refugees tries to enter Europe illegally by boat, a storm suddenly appears and all hell breaks loose when an old man falls overboard. His perception shifts into another dimension: a dark, hallucinatory place. Driven by a mysterious power and desperately in search of his loved ones, his soul passes by the everyday reality of many castaway refugees at the border of the alleged paradise, Europe. The old man's spirit observes people on the street being chased away like dogs, follows an illegal worker and a drug-addicted mother and slips inside crowded refugee shelters. Wandering through this limbo, the old man questions the meaning of his existence.

After a series of thoughts that we were pleased with, we publish here today on your site the content of Plus, the first episodes of the Ihsan from the Future program for the famous presenter Ahmed Al Shugairi, the dates of the replay, and the date of the presentation of the first and second part of the Ihsan Al Mustakbal program, which preacher Ahmed Al Shugairi returns to MBC screen.

Like many young people around the world, best friends Fawzi and Mahmoud are obsessed with soccer. But for the past several years, the teenagers have been stuck in Zaatari, the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, located in Jordan. With uncertain legal status and an interrupted education, their prospects are limited. On the local soccer pitch, however, they can imagine a brighter future as professional athletes, a path to escaping the camp and providing for their families. When scouts from a world-renowned Qatari sports academy visit Zaatari, Fawzi and Mahmoud believe they might be able to realize their dreams—if given the opportunity.

The biography of Youssef Yassine, the advisor to the founding king, who confronted the Ottomans, the British and the French and lived believing in Arab unity.

I left Lebanon in 2006. For the past 10 years I lived in 7 countries, 10 cities, and 21 homes. I slept in 21 beds, cooked in 21 kitchens, cleaned 21 bathrooms, stared at 21 windows, wrote on 21 desks, and locked 21 doors behind me. I packed all of my life into two suitcases and a backpack. The rest stayed behind. Somebody somewhere uses my bed, somebody somewhere has my shoes. I was there. But now I am here.

A portmanteau feature that is an often laugh-out-loud portrait of Lebanon and all its myriad charms and idiosyncrasies.

We discover the mysterious side of Amina Sboui (former Femen) and her daily life. Her friends of the LGBT community, who live at her home, have been rejected by their families and the society. Through out Amina, we dive into their stories: Sandra (transvestite), Ramy (gay), Ayoub (gay), Atef (gay and transvestite). Many unexpected events keep coming and caught live…

A short documented visit to the ophthalmologist by Anhar Salem

Director Yuri Ancarani crosses the Persian Gulf to accompany a falconer to an important competition, entering the surreal world of wealthy Qatari sheikhs with a passion for amateur falconry. The opulence of this Middle Eastern gas state is on full display as the men race SUVs up and down sand dunes, fly their prized falcons around on private jets, and take their pet cheetahs out for desert spins in their souped-up Ferraris.

Through the years and from a very intimated point of view, this is the story of the adaptation process of two Syrian refugee's families to a faraway country called Uruguay, they completely disown.

The fight that turned sport on its head. In a historic match up, we present an unprecedented look behind the scenes to explore how the match between Boxing's World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury and the former UFC-Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou was made, fought and ultimately won. A real David and Goliath story with drama only sport can write. From learning about how a small boy from Cameroon escaped life in the sand mines to become UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world, to how a small boy from Morecambe Bay became one of the most inspirational faces on the planet - this is a story of two very different icons who put it all on the line in front of the world in an event that changed the game forever.

Months after Hosni Mubarak stepped down, Egyptians country-wide seem determined to maintain the insurgency until their demands are met.

Life begins to change for a family of five living in the middle of nowhere when water is illegally diverted onto their land

Two guitars, the 24th underground short film made by the Saudi female filmmaker: Anhar Salem.

Life After the Fall is a unique insight into modern day Iraq, eloquently portrayed by Iraqi director Kasim Abid, who returned to his native country shortly after the fall of Saddam following an absence of 30 years. Shot over five years, this film shows the director reuniting with his family in 2003. They had survived dictatorship, war and sanctions and were ready for change.

Following an act of vandalism, the Palestinian filmmaker's father decides to install a surveillance camera to record the scenes unfolding in front of the house. Everyday family life, or neighbours going to work, Unusual Summer captures fleeting moments of poetry whereas, in the background, the daily choreography of Ramla, located in today's Israël, comes to the surface.

Through the interactions between two film directors and a longtime film extra, this documentary questions the distinction between real and fake. A game of power between assistant director and director leads to the realisation that we all live our lives as extras, ‘accessories’ in the background who wait for the chance to become a star.

For an estimated population of 4 million, Lebanon boasts some 200,000 foreign domestic workers, contracted under a system of full custodianship that deprives them of basic rights. Implemented since the start of the civil war (1975), this system is borrowed from similar ones in the Gulf countries. It is predicated on a transaction whereby the worker is not providing a service, but is rather commodified as a product, with specialised agencies organising their import under conditions not unlike modern-day outposts of slavery. Director Maher Abi Samra places his camera inside the offices of the El Raed agency with the full complicity of its owner Zein. Diligently, unobtrusively, he observes and probes. The components of this state-sanctioned system come undone methodically

A set-up for an experiment in an empty room. Former inmates reconstruct an Israeli secret service interrogation centre. These Palestinian men use role play to come to terms with their memories and the humiliation they have experienced.

Cinema Fouad is a documentary portrait of Khaled El Kurdi, a Syrian trans woman living in Beirut, where she earns a living as a domestic worker and belly dancer. Soueid shows us scenes of El Kurdi’s domestic world: eating, applying make-up, dancing in her bedroom, all while reflecting on her life and experiences. She expresses her desire to undergo gender reassignment surgery, and mourns the death of her lover, a Palestinian freedom fighter. She often alludes to the aggressions she faces outside of her home, and through her adept defiance in the face of some of Soueid’s more goading questions, we recognize the echoing of these aggressions in his role as interviewer.

Seven militant women (fedaiyat) of the revolutionary generation tell the story of the Palestinian resistance through accounts of their own lives. Cut from 35 hours of interviews with leaders of the armed struggle, the film presents an image of confident, unapologetic and proud feminine identity. Together, the memories of these women narrate the dream of a generation, yet unrealized.

Swedish-Eritrean radio host Meron Estefanos produces her weekly program at home in Stockholm where she broadcast, devoted entirely to the hundreds of Eritrean refugees held hostage in the Egyptian Sinai Desert. The Bedouins kidnap Eritreans making their way to Israel and demand large ransoms from their families. We follow Meron in her attempts to turn the tide by calling the hostages and kidnappers alike during her radio show. The film focuses on the stories of two hostages: A) Hiriyti was pregnant when she got kidnapped. We hear the young woman talking with her husband Amaniel in Tel Aviv, who is doing everything he can to free his wife and their baby from the torture camp. B) The ransom for 20-year-old Timnit has been paid, but her brother haven't heard anything from her since her flight to the Egyptian-Israeli border. The battle for Hiriyti's release and the search for Timnit takes Meron to Sinai. There, she stumbles on the marks left by the many atrocities.

Rare footage of Saad Zaghloul's return from exile in 1923 and the Egyptian reception of him, filmed by Egyptian cinema pioneer Mohamed Bayoumi.

Syria. Among the ravages of war, there is also this more discreet yet vital phenomenon: exile. Leave, stay? A question Liwaa Jazji tackles. The place of this tearing apart of the self to the self will be the house as a physical space, as a place of memory of gestures and bodies, as the receptacle of our familiar objects.

In a remote conservative village in the South of Egypt, a group of disenfranchised Coptic girls rebel by forming an all-female street theater troupe. They dream of becoming actresses, dancers and singers, challenging their families and the villagers with their provocative performances. Shot across four years, this coming-of-age story focuses on those girls, as they transition from childhood to womanhood.

In the heart of Riyadh... Souq Al-Zal, between heritage and simplicity, the film depicts the dreams that simple people desire in life.

Part one of the documentary "The Story of a Dream", which tells the story of Team Falcons as they compete in the Esports World Cup!

Documenting the life of a small village in Al-Qatif Governorate.

One slow, hot afternoon in a neighbourhood built to be a utopian suburb for employees of the Palestinian Post Office; now becomes a lawless no-man’s-land between occupied East Jerusalem and Ramallah.

In this autobiographical film the Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman goes in search of his past and possible future in occupied Palestine. Wherever he looks, he feels surrounded by images and places that have a political significance. Can a landscape be free of meaning, is there any point in striving for an approach that transcends all ideology? Commissioned by the ARTE network as part of a series of films for the end of the millennium, this film is a travelogue through Jerusalem, Nazareth and Ramallah. The film is a meditation on quotidian injustices, and a formulation of an aesthetic and creative response to them.

In the train on the way to the Festival in Vesoul, filmmakers Amos Gitai and Elia Suleiman talk about the subjects that preoccupy them: war and peace in the Middle East, their film projects, their cities, their private lives… In Vesoul, the French welcome is rather comical and the questions of war and peace in the Middle East create misunderstandings: through a kind of inverted exoticism, we end up wondering who is really the “stranger” in this story.

Al-'Awdah li Agadir (1967) films the reconstruction of Agadir after the earthquake that almost destroyed the entire city and is akin to a modernist constructivist moving image tableau.

The Flies, a Saudi film produced in 1950, stands as a historical milestone in the Saudi Arabian film industry. The film sheds light on the issue of flies and their risks to public health, forming part of Aramco's efforts to combat diseases in the Kingdom.

A documentary about algerian immigration in France

The Upper Gate was about Sidon (The capital of the south of Lebanon), the filmmaker Arab Loutfi’s home town; in which she wove a history of the city through the stories of its people. In her film she tries after the 1982 Israeli invasion, which caused so much damage and chaos, to reconstruct her own memories of the place offering accounts of herself, her sister Maha, her uncle and her friends, interspersing them with newspaper clips and personal photographs to illustrate her preoccupations and concerns in relation to Sidon at different times.

A short documentary about the adventure of two Saudi filmmakers who travel through the snows of Northern Europe to chase their dream during a pivotal period in their artistic careers.