Mariana Hristova

Hristova

Mariana Hristova is a freelance film critic, cultural journalist, and programmer. She contributes to national and international outlets and has curated programs for Filmoteca De Catalunya, Arxiu Xcèntric, goEast Wiesbaden, etc. Her professional interests include cinema from the European peripheries, archival and amateur films.

From Abdul to Leila: Reconnecting with memory through poetry

Film review: Artist Leila Albayaty digs deep into her family history to construct meaningful recollections & piece together her own complex Arab-French identity

17 May, 2024

Farshad Hashemi unveils the daily confines of Iranian women

The New Arab Meets: Farshad Hashemi's metafictional debut reflects on the restrictive freedoms of Iranian women, told through a playful, political lens.

14 March, 2024

In the Shadow of Beirut: A cramped existence on the margins

Film review: The day-to-day struggle of four families in Beirut's Sabra and Shatila neighbourhood is a demeaning, self-aggrandizing product of Western cinema.

18 January, 2024

From a doll's house, Asmae El Moudir revives familial trauma

Asmae El Moudir's documentary Mother of All Lies is the Moroccan entry at the 2024 Oscars and features a complex plot that resurrects family secrets and an episode of violence abandoned amidst the ashes of the past.

27 October, 2023

Backstage: Psychosomatic salvation in Morocco's Atlas forest

Film Review: Psychological tension is ratcheted and released in Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane’s dreamlike feature, where physical movement says more than words.

16 September, 2023

Nadia Fares confronts chronic disease of global patriarchy

The New Arab Meets: Nadia Fares, whose documentary Big Little Women premiered at the Swiss Panorama of the Locarno Film Festival. It features generations of Egyptian women who oppose patriarchy but also juxtaposes popular, global ideas of feminism.

25 August, 2023