Selma S
(Artwork in cover by Mohamed Melehi)
Films I Recommend
A Moment of Innocence
(نون و گلدون)
A teenager stabs a policeman at a protest. Twenty years later, he wants to make amends – and a movie.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 1996
- Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf
- Cast Mirhadi Tayebi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Ali Bakhsi, Ammar Tafti, Maryam Mohamadamini
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
A Feeling Greater Than Love
(شعور أكبر من الحب)
Through rich storytelling, recounting, and usage of film archives, Lebanon's forgotten revolution is revived.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon • 2017
- Director Mary Jirmanus Saba
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni
(Les trois disparitions de Soad Hosni)
Through filmic montage, the life of Egyptian screen legend Soad Hosni who mysteriously died is retold.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Lebanon, France • 2011
- Director Rania Stephan
- Cast Soad Hosny
- Genre Documentary
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Mariner of the Mountains
(Algerien par accident)
Filmmaker Karim Aïnouz returns to his father's homeland Algeria for the first time to trace stories of travel, family, and belonging.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil, France, Germany • 2021
- Director Karim Aïnouz
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Taste of Cherry
(طعم گيلاس)
A middle-aged man, Mr. Badii, seeks someone to bury him after he commits suicide.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran, France • 1997
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolrahman Bagheri, Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari, Safar Ali Moradi, Mir Hossein Noori, Ahmad Ansari
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Kanopy
Where Is the Friend's House?
(خانهی دوست کجاست؟)
After accidentally taking his friend's notebook, an 8-year-old boy sets out to return it.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1987
- Director Abbas Kiarostami
- Cast Babek Ahmed Poor, Ahmed Ahmed Poor, Kheda Barech Defai, Iran Outari, Ait Ansari, Sadika Taohidi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
About Some Meaningless Events
(أحداث-بلا-دلالة)
While interviewing by-passers on the role of Moroccan cinema, one man catches the eyes of the filmmakers.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Morocco • 1974
- Director Mostafa Derkaoui
- Cast Nour Abdellatif, Salah Eddine Benmoussa, Mohamed Derham, Mostapha Dziri, Abbas Fassi-Fihri, Khalid Jamai
- Genre Crime, Documentary, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Decalogue I
(Dekalog, jeden)
I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other God but me.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Poland, West Germany • 1989
- Director Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Cast Henryk Baranowski, Wojciech Klata, Maja Komorowska, Artur Barciś
- Genre Drama, TV Movie
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived
(ساعة التحرير دقت برّه يا إستعمار)
The film chronicles the resistance against the tyrannical powers of the British-backed Sultanate of Oman in the now-forgotten Dhofar revolution of 1963.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Lebanon, France • 1974
- Director Heiny Srour
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Stalker
(Сталкер)
A stalker takes two men into a mysterious place in which deep seeded desires are granted.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Soviet Union • 1979
- Director Andrei Tarkovsky
- Cast Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko, Alisa Freyndlikh, Natasha Abramova, Faime Jurno
- Genre Science Fiction, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Pickpocket
Despite the dangers and objections of those around him, Michel embarks on a journey of improving his pickpocketing craft.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1959
- Director Robert Bresson
- Cast Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Dolly Scal, Pierre Leymarie, Pierre Étaix
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Marriage of the Blessed
(عروسی خوبان)
Haji returns from the Iran-Iraq war severely traumatized and must now adapt to a new civilian reality.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 1989
- Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf
- Cast Ebrahim Abadi, Mahmud Bigham, Roya Nownahali, Mohsen Zaehtab
- Genre Crime, Drama, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Here and Elsewhere
(Ici et ailleurs)
Using an exploratory combination of film and video, life in France is paralleled to the lives of Palestinian revolutionaries.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1976
- Director Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Anne-Marie Miéville
- Cast Jean-Luc Godard, Anne-Marie Miéville
- Genre Documentary, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Taxi
(تاکسی)
An exiled filmmaker posing as a cab driver captures incisive portraits of diverse passengers in present-day Tehran.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iran • 2015
- Director Jafar Panahi
- Cast Jafar Panahi
- Genre Comedy, Documentary
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
Kafr Kassem
(كفر قاسم)
The villagers of the Palestinian village Kafr Kassem experience the rise of the Suez Crisis before the fateful eve of the Israeli attack.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Syria, Lebanon • 1975
- Director Borhane Alaouié
- Cast Abdallah Abbassi, Ahmad Ayub, Salim Sabri
- Genre Documentary
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Encountering the Archives
Mirror
(Зеркало)
The thoughts, emotions, and memories of 40 year-old Alexei, reflecting on his life experiences in different time periods.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Soviet Union • 1975
- Director Andrei Tarkovsky
- Cast Margarita Terekhova, Ignat Daniltsev, Larisa Tarkovskaya, Alla Demidova, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Plex
Off Frame AKA Revolution Until Victory
(Kharej Al-Itar aw Thawra Hata el Nasser)
An archival look at the Palestinian people's struggle to produce their own image.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Palestine, France, Jordan • 2016
- Director Mohanad Yaqubi
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Amazon Video
Mariner of the Mountains
(Algerien par accident)
Filmmaker Karim Aïnouz returns to his father's homeland Algeria for the first time to trace stories of travel, family, and belonging.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil, France, Germany • 2021
- Director Karim Aïnouz
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Memories of Underdevelopment
(Memorias del subdesarrollo)
After his wife and family leave for Cuba, Sergio stays behind in Cuba to confront a new society and a new self.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Cuba • 1968
- Director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
- Cast Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados, Eslinda Núñez, Omar Valdés, René de la Cruz, Yolanda Farr
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV
I Am Not Your Negro
A study of race in America then and now, inspired by James Baldwin's unpublished writings.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Switzerland, France, Belgium • 2017
- Director Raoul Peck
- Cast Samuel L. Jackson, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Ray Charles
- Genre Documentary, History
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Redbox, FlixFling, Crackle, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Kanopy
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
An examination of the evolution of the Black Power Movement in American society from 1967 to 1975.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, United States • 2011
- Director Göran Olsson
- Cast Abiodun Oyewole, Talib Kweli, Angela Davis, Harry Belafonte, Stokely Carmichael, Erykah Badu
- Genre Documentary
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
A World Not Ours
(A'lamun laysa lana)
A glimpse into the lives of refugees, and how dispossession has impacted them and their connections with one another.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Lebanon, Denmark • 2012
- Director Mahdi Fleifel
- Cast Mahdi Fleifel
- Genre
- Available on Netflix, DocAlliance Films, Netflix basic with Ads
The Beaches of Agnès
(Les Plages d'Agnès)
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda turns the camera on herself.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2008
- Director Agnès Varda
- Cast Agnès Varda, André Lubrano, Blaise Fournier, Vincent Fournier, Rosalie Varda, Mathieu Demy
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel, DocAlliance Films, Kanopy
Stories We Tell
Every family has a story.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2012
- Director Sarah Polley
- Cast Michael Polley, Harry Gulkin, Susy Buchan, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Kanopy
Night and Fog
(Nuit et brouillard)
Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1955
- Director Alain Resnais
- Cast Michel Bouquet, Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler, Julius Streicher
- Genre Documentary, History, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Hiroshima Mon Amour
(Hiroshima mon amour)
The story of a young French actress and her affair with a Japanese man while on assignment in Hiroshima.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Japan • 1959
- Director Alain Resnais
- Cast Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Stella Dassas, Pierre Barbaud, Bernard Fresson
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Amy
An intimate and delicate portrait of Amy Winehouse's rise to fame.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2015
- Director Asif Kapadia
- Cast Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Tony Bennett, Pete Doherty, Blake Fielder
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Hulu, Cinemax Amazon Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Cinemax Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
Space Across Human Imaginations
A Trip to the Moon
(Le Voyage dans la Lune)
A voyage to the beginning of narrative cinema
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1902
- Director Georges Méliès
- Cast Georges Méliès, Henri Delannoy, Bleuette Bernon, Brunnet, Depierre, Farjaut
- Genre Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Amazon Video, Public Domain Movies
Solaris
(Солярис)
A psychologist must keep his mind intact as he navigates a space station full of strange visions.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Soviet Union • 1972
- Director Andrei Tarkovsky
- Cast Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk, Jüri Järvet, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko, Vladislav Dvorzhetsky
- Genre Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
2001: A Space Odyssey
Humanity finds a mysterious monolith buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 1968
- Director Stanley Kubrick
- Cast Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter
- Genre Adventure, Mystery, Science Fiction
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Fantastic Planet
(La Planète sauvage)
A history of dominance on planet Ygam is challenged by an educated underdog.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Czechoslovakia • 1973
- Director René Laloux
- Cast Jennifer Drake, Sylvie Lenoir, Jean Topart, Jean Valmont, Max Amyl, Yves Barsacq
- Genre Animation, Science Fiction
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, The Roku Channel, Plex
Alphaville
(Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution)
A spy journeys to a tyrannical space city to complete three secret missions.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 1965
- Director Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, Akim Tamiroff, Howard Vernon, Christa Lang, Valérie Boisgel
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction, Mystery
- Available on Hoopla, Kanopy
Cowboy Bebop
(カウボーイビバップ)
Amid rising crime rates across the solar system in 2071, bounty hunters, or "cowboys," chase criminals in exchange for rewards.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1998
- Creator Hajime Yatate
- Cast Koichi Yamadera, Unsho Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara, Aoi Tada
- Genre Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Western
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Wild Blue Yonder
Human astronauts attempt to find an alternate planet for humanity while an alien narrates the story of his dying planet.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, France, Austria • 2005
- Director Werner Herzog
- Cast Brad Dourif, Donald Williams, Ellen Baker, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Shannon Lucid, Michael McCulley
- Genre Documentary, Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Shout! Factory TV, Plex
Sputnik
(Спутник)
A cosmonaut returns to Earth, accompanied by a dangerous extraterrestrial living inside him.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Russia • 2020
- Director Egor Abramenko
- Cast Oksana Akinshina, Pyotr Fyodorov, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Anton Vasilyev, Pavel Ustinov
- Genre Drama, Horror, Science Fiction
- Available on AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
A regular guy having a bad day finds himself on an intergalactic adventure for the meaning of life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2005
- Director Garth Jennings
- Cast Martin Freeman, Zooey Deschanel, Sam Rockwell, Yasiin Bey, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren
- Genre Adventure, Comedy, Family, Science Fiction
- Available on Hulu, Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Vudu, AMC on Demand
Aelita: Queen of Mars
(Аэлита)
An engineer travels to Mars and helps lead a proletarian revolution against the ruling class.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Soviet Union • 1924
- Director Yakov Protazanov
- Cast Yuliya Solntseva, Igor Ilyinsky, Nikolai Tsereteli, Nikolai Tsereteli, Nikolai Batalov, Vera Orlova
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on FlixFling, IndieFlix, Klassiki, Pantaflix, Kanopy, Plex, Public Domain Movies
A Space Exodus
A reinterpreted moon landing in a Palestinian political context...
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Palestine • 2008
- Director Larissa Sansour
- Cast Larissa Sansour
- Genre
- Available on Kanopy
Aniara
A spaceship carrying settlers to Mars is knocked off course, causing the passengers to consider their place in the universe.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, Denmark • 2019
- Director Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja
- Cast Emelie Jonsson, Arvin Kananian, Bianca Cruzeiro, Anneli Martini, Jennie Silfverhjelm, Peter Carlberg
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Hoopla, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Redbox