AFRICAN & MIDDLE EASTERN CINEMA

The Band’s Visit Dir. Eran Kolirin, Israel, 2007. A small Egyptian police band find themselves lost in a small town in Israel.

Baran Dir. Majid Majidi. Iranian film set on a building site in Teheran, explores questions of illegal labour and sexuality.

Bashu, the Little Stranger Dir. Bahram Beizai. Bashu loses his home and family in an air raid and flees the city. (VHS)

Caramel Dir. Nadine Labaki, Lebanon 2007. A comedy drama set around a Beirut beauty parlour.

The Circle Dir. Jafar Panahi, Iran 2000. Tackles the oppression of women in modern day Iran.

The Colour of Paradise Dir. Majid Majidi. A passionate investigation of faith tested in adversity. Iranian. (VHS)

Gabbeh Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Lyrical Iranian film about colour, life & love. (VHS)

Halfaouine Dir. Ferid Boughedir, Tunisia 1990. Traces the sexual awakening of an adolescent boy and the role of women in Tunisian society. (VHS)

Jerusalema Dir. Ralph Ziman, South Africa 2008. Action crime drama set in Soweto and made in English.

Journey of Hope Dir. Xavier Koller, 1990. Academy award winner - best foreign film. Dramatic tale of a Turkish family’s flight into Switzerland in search of a better life. (VHS)

Kandahar Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf. An Afghan journalist, who has been living in exile, returns to Afghanistan.

Lemon Tree Dir. Dustin Rikert, Israel 2008. A hit at film festivals around the globe this is a powerful, insightful and compelling look at a divided nation and the potential for humanity in times of political turmoil.

Live and Become Dir. Radu Mihaileanu. An Ethopian boy fakes being Jewish to escape his ravaged country.

Masai the Rain Warriors Dir. Pascal Plisson, 2004. From the creators of “Himalaya” comes a universal tale of courrage and friendship told through the eyes of ten young Masai warriors.

Moolaade Dir. Ousmane Sembene, 2004. Deals with the issue of female circumcision.

Noodle Dir. Ayelet Menahemi, Israel 2007. Miri is a flight attendant, beautiful but also a grieving widow. After arriving home from a flight, she is confronted by her Chinese cleaning lady, who pleads with her in broken English to look after her six-year -old son.

Offside Dir. Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2006. Panahi’s earlier films were banned in Iran and this one again disdains the censors to critique the treatment of women in the Islamic republic.

Osama Dir. Siddiq Barmak. A totally engrossing drama, the first entirely Afghani film made after the rise and the fall of the Taliban.

Persepolis Dir. Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Parannaud, 2007. This animated feature is a conflation of Iranian writer, Satrapi’s four graphic novels that detail her life in Iran from childhood to her mid 20s.

The Runner Dir. Amir Naderi, 1984. An astonishing piece of filmmaking in which a harsh account of modern poverty supports passages of extravagant but unsentimental lyricism. Iranian. (VHS)

Satin Rouge Dir. Raja Amari. Straight-laced Tunisian widow Lilia gets drawn into the exotic world of the red satin cabaret.

The Silences of the Palace Dir. Moufida Tlatli, France/Tunisia 1994. Remarkable debut about the days of female slavery in Tunisia. (VHS)

Strangers Dir. Guy Nattiv & Erez Tadmor, Israel, 2007. Filmed in real-time against the backdrop of Germany's triumph at the World Cup and the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, this is the tale of how fate can throw two lovers together and then pull them apart.

Ten Dir. Abbas Kiarostami. Focuses on ten conversations between a female driver in Iran and the passengers in her car. 2002.

Tiläi (The Law) Dir. Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso, 1990. Examines the role of the law in village society. (VHS)

A Time for Drunken Horses Dir. Bahman Ghobadi, Iran, 2000. A shattering docu-drama set in the mountainous Iraq-Iran border.

Tsotsi Dir. Gavin Hood. Based on the novel by South African author Athol Fugard.

Turtles Can Fly Dir. Bahman Ghobadi. Kurdish drama set in the Iran/Iraq border region on the eve of the American invasion.

U-Carmen/ e-Khayelitsha Dir. Mark Dornford-May, 2005. A modern version of Bizet’s opera, Carmen set in a South African townshop. Xhosa language.

Ushpizin Dir. Gidi Dar, Israel 2004. Set in Jerusalem, Moshe and Mali, a poor childless Orthodox couple pray desperately to the Lord to help them, the impossible happens but not without a price...

Walk on Water Dir. Etyan Fox, Israel 2004. Following the suicide of his wife an Israeli intelligence officer is assigned to befriend the grandchildren of a Nazi war criminal.

Waltz with Bashir Dir. Ari Folman, Israel 2008. Told using stunning animation, Waltz With Bashir is enchanting, gripping, horrific, innovative and unlike anything you've ever seen before.

The White Balloon Dir. Jafar Panahi. Reveals the terrors & wonders of the world from the point of view of a 7-year-old girl. Iranian. (VHS)

Xala Dir. Sembene Ousmane, 1974. Satirical look at the Senegalese bourgeoisie. (VHS)

Yesterday 2004. Dir. Darrell James Roodt. The first film made in the Zulu language deals with the plight of a woman who is HIV positive.