Contemporary Arab Cinema on the Kino Film Collection

Kino Lorber has long been renowned for its excellence as a distributor of world cinema, bringing the best films from around the globe to North American audiences. Diversifying and expanding cinematic palettes for decades, we strive to connect audiences around the world to each other through a shared language: cinema.

We’re shining a spotlight on Arab cinema with a curated selection of titles from the Kino Lorber library, all available to stream on Kino Film Collection. Spanning Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Egypt, these films offer a rich tapestry of stories that explore the beauty, complexity, and resilience of the Arab experience. From intimate personal narratives to sweeping political dramas, this collection invites viewers to engage with voices and visions that remind us of cinema’s power to bridge cultures and spark dialogue.

As I Open My Eyes (2015)

Director Leyla Bouzid's powerful feature debut As I Open My Eyes depicts the experience of a young Tunisian woman balancing the expectations of her family with her creative life as the singer in a politically charged rock band before the Arab Spring. 

5 Broken Cameras (2011)

An extraordinary work of cinematic and political activism, this Academy Award-nominated film is a firsthand account of nonviolent resistance in a West Bank village threatened by Israeli settlements. Structured around the destruction of a succession of self-taught Palestinian cameraman Emad Burnat's video cameras, 5 Broken Cameras follows one family's evolution over five years of village turmoil.

Casablanca Beats (2021)

In Morocco’s official submission to the 94th Academy Awards, a former rapper takes a job at a cultural center in an underprivileged neighborhood in Casablanca and inspires his students to break free from the weight of their lives by learning how to express themselves creatively. 

Halfaouine: Boy of the Terraces (1990)

Set against the sensual backdrop of modern Tunisia, an inquisitive thirteen-year-old’s eyes are opened to his own sexual desires when he visits the local Turkish bathhouse with his mother. A sensitive, comical look at growing up under strict religious codes.

Costa Brava, Lebanon (2021)

Nadine Labaki stars in this award-winning near-future drama about a close-knit family who have built a mountain refuge from the environmental crisis, only to have their serenity intruded upon by a government sponsored landfill that threatens to upend their relationships and way of life.

Four Daughters (2023)

Winner of the Best Documentary prize at Cannes and the Gotham Awards, this riveting documentary by Oscar-nominated Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania tells the complex story of Olfa Hamrouni and her four daughters that explores the nature of memory, rebellion, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters. 

The Idol (2016)

In Palestine’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, talented teenage singer Mohammed Assaf travels from the Gaza Strip to Egypt to audition for the television show "Arab Idol." Even as the siege around Gaza intensifies, the prison around them ever more forbidding, Mohammed knows he has the rare gift to make people smile and forget their troubles.

A Summer in La Goulette (1998)

Set in 1967 and beautifully shot on the sun-dappled seaside of Tunisia, Férid Boughedir's comedy-drama captures the social complexities of the time through the experiences of three teenage girlfriends near the warm glow of Goulette beach. 

Clash (2016)

Set entirely within the confines of a police van, detainees from different political and social backgrounds are brought together by fate in Mohamed Diab’s Clash, which was Egypt’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.

Horses of God (2014)