Syrian Documentaries | Doc Fortnight 2018
One film focuses on gay Syrians desperate for personal freedom abroad and another on refugees trapped and exploited in a Lebanon camp.
Film-Forward
The Insult
Two men’s ill-tempered argument over a broken drainpipe leads to a hurled curse, a savage punch, a vendetta, and a courtroom showdown.
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
The biopic of Gloria Grahame could not ask for better performances from its stars.
Dalida & The Dancer
Two restless, intractable talents dominate European biopics of female stars, little known to the American public.
The Teacher
Beware of comrade teacher, though she looks harmless enough with her kewpie-doll perm and brown button eyes. But there’s no confidence she won’t betray, no boundary she’ll respect.
The Nile Hilton Incident
Casablanca stands in for Cairo—and makes a compelling star. The story takes place in the days leading up to the Arab Spring in January 2011, and the city throbs with discontent.