Film – War Watch

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‘I only had this father, and he’s gone’: Wafa Mustafa’s fight for truth and justice for Syria’s missing
ByAlexander Durie June 12, 2026

With more than 177,000 people forcibly disappeared since 2011, short doc Maybe Tomorrow captures ‘the violence of waiting’ experienced by familyWhen Wafa Mustafa was a child, she remembers her father playing the music of Umm Kulthum non-stop at home in…

Read More ‘I only had this father, and he’s gone’: Wafa Mustafa’s fight for truth and justice for Syria’s missing
Antisemitism | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Donald Trump | Film | Gaza | Helen Mirren | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | London | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | UK news | World news

Helen Mirren speaks out about being called ‘evil Zionist’ on the street in London
ByAndrew Pulver June 11, 2026

Responding to an incident in which she was verbally abused, the actor said that that ‘evil forces are rising everywhere’, as well as expressing support for MobLand co-star Tom HardyHelen Mirren has commented on being called an “evil Zionist bitch” whil…

Read More Helen Mirren speaks out about being called ‘evil Zionist’ on the street in London
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Bashar al-Assad | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Documentary films | Donald Trump | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Syria | World news

My Memory Is Full of Ghosts review – deeply moving visual hymn for the bombed-out Syrian city of Homs
ByPhuong Le June 8, 2026

Anas Zawahri’s documentary lays heart-wrenching testimony over languorous shots of bullet-ridden ruins and deserted streetsThe western Syrian city of Homs is only a husk of its former self. Previously a major industrial centre, the region became a key …

Read More My Memory Is Full of Ghosts review – deeply moving visual hymn for the bombed-out Syrian city of Homs
AI (artificial intelligence) | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Computing | Culture | Donald Trump | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Technology | World news

‘The CGI would have cost millions. I spent $2,000.’ Is Dreams of Violets AI slop – or the future of film-making?
ByCath Clarke June 3, 2026

It should have taken years, but Ash Koosha made a drama about Iran’s anti-government protests in weeks – and now it’s the first AI-made movie to screen at a major film festival. It could transform indie film-making, claims the directorNext week a break…

Read More ‘The CGI would have cost millions. I spent $2,000.’ Is Dreams of Violets AI slop – or the future of film-making?
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Documentary films | Donald Trump | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestine | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | World news

Planet Israel review – valuable personal documentary about Israel/Palestine conflict
ByPeter Bradshaw June 2, 2026

Gillian Mosely’s film argues that Israelis are asked to accept a ‘forever war’ in part motivated by Netanyahu’s desire to defer investigation into corruption allegationsGillian Mosely has produced a follow-up film to her earlier documentary The Tinderb…

Read More Planet Israel review – valuable personal documentary about Israel/Palestine conflict
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The Guest review – the risks of protecting refugees in the Poland-Belarus danger zone
ByPhuong Le June 1, 2026

Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz’s documentary lays bare the problems faced by refugees and the compassion of good samaritansIt all begins with a knock. In a small Polish town on the border with Belarus, Maciek and his family have taken in…

Read More The Guest review – the risks of protecting refugees in the Poland-Belarus danger zone
Africa | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Comedy | Comedy films | Culture | Donald Trump | Drama films | Egypt | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Thrillers | World news

Eagles of the Republic review – seductive thriller of corruption and compromise in post-Mubarak Egypt
ByPeter Bradshaw May 21, 2026

The third film in Tarik Saleh’s ‘Cairo trilogy’ is a about a washed-up movie star who is bullied into starring in government propagandaSwedish-Egyptian film-maker Tarik Saleh has long been a brilliant satirist of the corruption and shabby political com…

Read More Eagles of the Republic review – seductive thriller of corruption and compromise in post-Mubarak Egypt
Asghar Farhadi | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Cannes film festival | Culture | Donald Trump | Festivals | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | US-Israel war on Iran

‘Extremely cruel and tragic’: Iranian director Asghar Farhadi speaks out against state violence and the war
ByNadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent May 15, 2026

The film-maker, who won the Grand Prix for A Hero in 2021, condemned both the killing of protestors and the conflict’s bombing campaigns during a Cannes press conferenceOscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has described the deaths of civilians…

Read More ‘Extremely cruel and tragic’: Iranian director Asghar Farhadi speaks out against state violence and the war
Australia news | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Donald Trump | Drugs | Film | Gaza | Human rights | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Saudi Arabia | World news

Australian director Phillip Noyce shoots feature film for Saudi Arabia celebrating ‘heroism of security men in combating drugs’
ByAmanda Meade May 7, 2026

Exclusive: Regime, which executed 243 people last year for drug offences, accused of investing in entertainment to whitewash its human rights recordThe acclaimed Australian film-maker Phillip Noyce is being paid by the Saudi regime to make a feature fi…

Read More Australian director Phillip Noyce shoots feature film for Saudi Arabia celebrating ‘heroism of security men in combating drugs’
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‘We wasted a lot of lives’: CIA spymaster’s caution over past Iran intervention resurfaces from beyond the grave
ByPhilip Oltermann European culture editor April 20, 2026

A documentary about Peter Sichel – the ‘Jewish James Bond’ who died in 2025 – includes striking mea culpas about the cost and efficacy of US involvement in the Middle EastIn New York social circles, he was known as the “Jewish James Bond”: a refugee fr…

Read More ‘We wasted a lot of lives’: CIA spymaster’s caution over past Iran intervention resurfaces from beyond the grave