American Empire
The American Dream may have long been an aspiration for many, but this documentary explores how it has been corrupted to create an environmentally-destructive and freedom-restricting power.
Friday, 4.30pm, Marina Mall's Vox 1 Cinema
Sunday, 1.45pm, Vox 1
Coming Forth By Day
Having already won awards for her documentaries, the Egyptian director Hala Lotfi now brings us her debut feature, a story of two women caring for a sick man that offers a reflection on how we create our own prisons.
October 18, 9.15pm, Vox 6
October 20, 4pm, Vox 6
Cursed be the Phosphate
The Tunisian revolution in 2010 and subsequent overthrow of Ben Ali may have ignited the Arab Spring, but three years earlier an uprising in Gafsa was brutally suppressed. Director Sam Tlili looks into the events.
October 17, 6.45pm, Vox 4
October 19, 2.15pm, Vox 1
Harraga Blues
Moussa Haddad, one of the icons of Algerian filmmaking with credentials going back to the Battle of Algiers in 1966 as assistant director, tackles the subject of illegal immigration with a story of two young friends who dream of crossing the Mediterranean.
October 16, 9.30pm, Vox 5
October 18, 1.30pm, Vox 5
Hidden Beauties
The Tunisian revolution is the backdrop for this drama from Nouri Bouzid about two young girls who are inspired by the uprising to fight for gender equality at home, at work and in their love lives.
October 18, 2pm, Vox 1
In Search of Oil and Sand
The discovery of some old video reels by a distant relative of Egypt's late King Farouk provides the curious subject of this documentary looking at life in the royal court before the 1953 coup d'etat.
Saturday, 9pm, Vox 4
Monday, 2.30pm, Vox 1
Mohammed Saved from the Waters
Through the story of an Egyptian boy facing critical illness due to polluted water from the Nile, Safaa Fathy's documentary investigates issues of public health and poverty in the country.
October 16, 9.15pm, Vox 4
October 18, 4.30pm, Vox 1
Perfumes of Algiers
The multi-award winning Algerian director Rachid Benhadj's seventh feature tells us the story of a photographer who returns to Algeria after a 20-year self-imposed exile to save her troubled brother.
October 19, 4.30pm, Vox 1
