Drama films – War Watch

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Donald Trump | Drama films | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Iraq | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Period and historical films | Petrol prices | Saddam Hussein | World news

The President’s Cake review – sweet portrait of life in wartime Iraq builds to an explosive climax
ByPeter Bradshaw February 11, 2026

Nine-year-old Lamia is obliged by her school to bake a birthday cake for Saddam Hussein, and meets a series of vivid characters as she shops for sanctioned ingredientsThere’s a terrific charm and sweetness in this debut from Iraqi film-maker Hasan Hadi…

Read More The President’s Cake review – sweet portrait of life in wartime Iraq builds to an explosive climax
Afghanistan | Africa | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Cate Blanchett | Culture | Donald Trump | Drama films | Europe | Festivals | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Migration | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Rotterdam film festival | Short films | Somalia | South and central Asia | Syria | Ukraine | World news

Displacement Film Fund review – Cate Blanchett masterminds short film collection that brims with life and intensity
ByPeter Bradshaw January 30, 2026

Rotterdam film festivalA set of shorts by film-makers from Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, Syria and Somalia are shocking, funny and mysterious in equal measureWith considerable chutzpah and elan, and in her capacity as producer and UNHCR Goodwill ambassad…

Read More Displacement Film Fund review – Cate Blanchett masterminds short film collection that brims with life and intensity
Africa | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Donald Trump | Drama films | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Morocco | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Science fiction and fantasy films | World news

Animalia review – megaflood strikes in haunting, eerie debut about liberation and the unknown
ByCath Clarke December 9, 2025

A pregnant woman’s journey becomes a surreal exploration of class, gender and spiritual transformation in Sofia Alaoui’s striking debutThis film’s tagline tells only half the story: “A young pregnant woman finds emancipation as aliens land in Morocco.”…

Read More Animalia review – megaflood strikes in haunting, eerie debut about liberation and the unknown
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Comedy | Comedy films | Culture | Donald Trump | Drama films | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel-Gaza war | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | World news

From Ground Zero: Stories From Gaza review – scenes of ordinary life in extremis
ByPeter Bradshaw September 9, 2025

This heartbreaking collection of short films mentions neither ‘Israel’ nor ‘Hamas’, instead offering a mosaic of everyday living under nonstop attackThis collection of short films from Gaza film-makers gives a mosaic of images, ideas and microvignettes…

Read More From Ground Zero: Stories From Gaza review – scenes of ordinary life in extremis
Africa | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Donald Trump | Drama films | Festivals | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel-Gaza war | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Tunisia | Venice film festival | World news

The Voice of Hind Rajab review – docufiction is fierce, vehement and heart-shattering
ByPeter Bradshaw September 4, 2025

In an audacious move, director Kaouther Ben Hania reconstructs the killing of the five-year-old in Gaza using her real voice as she is bombarded by the Israeli armyThere can be no doubt about which movie has set the Venice film festival ablaze – it is …

Read More The Voice of Hind Rajab review – docufiction is fierce, vehement and heart-shattering
Austria | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Donald Trump | Drama films | Europe | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Jordan | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | World news

Moon review – gripping thriller follows an ex-cage fighter standing up to injustice
ByCath Clarke July 15, 2025

An Austrian trainer goes to Dubai to work with three teenage sisters, and realises they are trapped. But there is no hero-saviour narrative in Kurdwin Ayub’s filmThis claustrophobic drama-thriller sticks two fingers up at white saviour narratives with …

Read More Moon review – gripping thriller follows an ex-cage fighter standing up to injustice