ع
Sections
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
Regions
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
More
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • Newsletter

LATEST ISSUE

Latest Issue
Magazine Archive
النسخة العربية
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Tag
  • cinema

Al Majalla's Film Watch

A tour of the newest movie releases and an older classic for good measure

Wael Said 10 April 2026

Hamnet: emotional banality taints would-be cinematic masterpiece

Chloé Zhao's Hamnet enters the awards season adorned with prestige, affirming its place among this year's most anointed films. Yet beneath the acclaim lies a curious emotional hollowness.

Obaid al-Tamimi 21 February 2026
Sara Padovan

From Palestine to AI: cultural trends that swept 2025

For those who look closely, there were recurring cultural themes over the past 12 months, whether in cinema, music, art, or literature. There were also common threats and shared opportunities.

Shadi Alaa Aldin 27 December 2025
Al Majalla

Al Majalla’s Film Watch

Every month, Al Majalla offers its take on the screen's newest releases, with the occasional dip into the archives to review an older classic.

Areej Jamal 05 September 2025
22-year-old art degree graduate Karim Naamani Ibrahim Totanji

Cinematheque Beirut gives Lebanon’s film community a space to thrive

An archive in the capital preserves not just films but memory, offering hope and inspiration for a younger generation of filmmakers

Ibrahim Tutunji 10 May 2025

Popes on the big screen: how cinema has depicted the pontiff

Al Majalla gives an overview of some of the most noteworthy films and TV shows about the pope

Shadi Alaa Aldin 28 April 2025
Egyptian actress Magda Al-Sabahi is honoured at the Damascus International Film Festival in the Syrian capital on November 7, 2010. AFP

Magda El-Sabahi: The 'saint' of Egyptian cinema

The trailblazing Egyptian producer and actress with a tumultuous private life had become an icon when she died in 2020, not least for having stood against the nationalisation of cinema

Wael Tawfik 12 September 2024
Critics have hailed 'Norah' as pioneering for the Saudi film industry and its exploration of traditional beliefs and contemporary progress.

Saudi Arabia to make its debut at Cannes with 'Norah'

Set to the stunning backdrop of AlUla, Norah by Tawfiq Al-Zaidi has broken new ground for Saudi cinema with a story about two people who inspire one another.

Noor Hisham Alsaif 24 April 2024
A still from the movie 'Perfect Days'. Alamy

'Perfect Days' shows how a quiet life can have bold ambitions

Shot in Toyko, Wim Wenders' film pays homage to Ozu and other Japanese filmmaking giants. Critics say this could be the German filmmaker's best work yet.

Samer Abou Hawwach 22 March 2024
A still from the film Trenque Lauquen Bulldog Film

Five imaginative films that brought cinema back to its pre-Covid shine

2023 saw a trend of films-within-films with cutting-edge directors embracing classic cinema

Firas Al-Madi 18 March 2024
  •  Load More
  • Popular
  • Editor's Pick
Nash
Business & Economy

How a tiny waterway put the global economy into a chokehold

18 April 2026

Disruption in the Hormuz can have major implications for global trade, but it also creates opportunities for smaller nations like Iran to become global political players

Steve Hewitt
Pete Reynolds
Politics

Glimpses of Bush's Iraq debacle appear in Trump's Iran war

15 April 2026

The Iraq war was viewed as disastrous in retrospect, while the Iran war was unpopular from the get-go. Al Majalla highlights the similarities and differences between the two.

Robert Ford
Al Majalla
Business & Economy

The US plan to turn Syria into an oil transit hub

16 April 2026

Pipelines have a chequered history in the Middle East, but the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has led US Tom Barrack to conclude that a new route through Syria could solve some problems.

Al Majalla - London
An Iranian woman flashes the V-sign as she takes part in a rally to pay tribute to women killed during war, in Tehran on 17 April 2026. AFP
Politics

Has Iran's ideology actually hardened?

16 April 2026

The change in tone and presentation of policy isn't a fundamental redirection, but rather the consolidation of a system under pressure

Alex Vatanka
Egyptian director Daoud Abdel Sayed holds two awards during the opening ceremony of the Alexandria Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, late on 14 September 2010. AMR AHMAD / AFP
Culture & Social Affairs

Daoud Abdel Sayed and the cinema of quiet rebellion

16 April 2026

Throughout his career, the renowned Egyptian film director challenged authority, rejected easy answers, and remained rooted in lived experience

Hazem Massoud

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter

Get the best of Al Majalla, straight to your inbox.

Your newsletter subscriptions are subject to Al Majalla privacy policy and terms and conditions.

OPINIONS

Has Iran's ideology actually hardened?

Alex Vatanka
Alex Vatanka

The Israel-Lebanon talks just might succeed

Ibrahim Hamidi
Ibrahim Hamidi

How a tiny waterway put the global economy into a chokehold

Steve Hewitt
Steve Hewitt

Péter Magyar: the Orbán loyalist-turned-nemesis

Con Coughlin
Con Coughlin
MORE FROM OPINIONS
logo
  • Politics
  • Culture & Social Affairs
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • Documents & Memoirs
  • Gulf
  • MENA
  • Europe
  • USA
  • Asia
  • World
  • Videos
  • Cartoons
  • World in photos
  • Infographics
  • Profiles
  • About Al Majalla
  • Al Majalla Team
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact us
logo

© Al Majalla Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

0:00:00
0:00:00