Davide Abbatescianni

Amjad Al Rasheed’s debut feature, Jordan's first film at the Cannes Film Festival, follows the vicissitudes of a desperate widow who has no power over her fate and deals with the enduring misogyny of the society she lives in.

Kordo Doski’s debut documentary feature is an endearing crowd pleaser revolving around the titular football team, born as a social project in a rural working-class town back in 2004.

In his latest effort, young Lebanese director Karim Kassem crafts a rich microcosm of hopeless characters living in and around a countryside mechanical workshop.

Film review: Heba Khaled, Talal Derki and Ali Wajeeh’s documentary follows a group of young Syrian women producing a play which revolves around the culture of misogyny and sexual abuse in Syria.

Film review: In her debut feature, young Kurdish-Iranian filmmaker Negin Ahmadi follows an all-female militia fighting in Syrian Kurdistan.

Film review: Premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Lina’s first documentary feature is a disillusioned account of how living under an authoritarian regime can split a group of young journalists and activists fighting for the same cause.

Film Review: In her debut feature, Lea Najjar attempts to blend together social commentary with the ritualistic pigeon sport Kash Hamam. The results are mixed.

Film review: Khaled Jarrar’s second feature gives dignity and identity to the shapeless mass of refugees escaping the most troubled parts of our planet.

Film review: Led by solid performances and characterised by a minimalist mise-en-scene, Iranian writer-director Ahmad Bahrami’s third feature delivers the portrait of a lost woman, unpacking a whole universe of despair and resignation.

Film Review: Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s debut feature is the endearing story of a 12-year-old boy who finds a sex doll in the titular Baghdad smouldering dumps.