With the end of 2022, the time comes to harvest Arab films for the year, which witnessed less production in terms of quantity and quality compared to last year.
The list of 2021 films was adorned with distinguished works such as “Rish”, “Souad”, “Abu Saddam” and “Costa Brava”, while the year 2022 came to a great extent disappointing, unlike the other lists published in Harvest 2021, which we found difficult to choose the best among them due to their abundance. It was difficult to choose works that were good enough to be included in the list of the best Arab films 2022, arranged, as usual, from good to best.
5- The movie "Farha"
In fifth place comes the movie “Farha”, which was co-produced by parties from Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sweden, directed and written by Darine Salam, and starring Karam Al-Taher.
The film was shown at the Toronto Film Festival, Palm Springer and the Red Sea, in addition to other international cinematic forums before it reached the Netflix platform, to ignite an Israeli campaign against it because of its exposure of the atrocities of the occupation army during the Palestinian Nakba.
The events of "Farha" revolve around the Palestinian teenager Farha, who dreams of moving from her limited village to the city to start her studies, but her dreams are assassinated by the Israeli army, which raided the area and occupied it heavily armed, killing the people and expelling them from their homes. Fearing for her, her father locked her in the food storage room in the courtyard. To watch her world collapse.
“Farha” is one of the confusing films, as it deals with an issue that it is necessary to talk about, present films that address it, and reach the largest possible segment of the audience, but on the other hand, it is a very limited work technically, perhaps due to the lack of experience of the director or the modest acting capabilities of the work crew, which leaves the viewer with bitterness. It was an experience that could have been better.
4- The movie "Long Trail"
The Saudi experience comes in fourth place, “A Long Way”, which is the most commercial film on this list, and the closest to reaching the audience.
The film was directed by Omar Naim Al-Arabi, who has Hollywood experience, starring YouTuber and actor Baraa Alem, director and actress Fatima Al-Banawi, and it was shown in cinemas and on the Netflix platform.
"A Long Way" revolves around a car trip during which a Saudi brother and sister travel to the Emirates to attend their father's wedding after their flight was canceled at the last moment, but they discover that they have fallen into a deadly trap with strange persistence that follows them since they left the city, and tries to get rid of them one way after another. And during attempts to escape from his grip, each of them recalls the past and the motives that might lead someone to threaten their lives in this way.
The film belongs to the genre of road films, thrillers and suspense, and presented an entertaining adventure from beginning to end, and a very good visual experience that made good use of the desert landscape for the filming locations, with a good performance from the two heroes, and most of the events were empty except for them and the masked killer.
3- The movie "19B"
From Egypt, the movie “19 B” by Ahmed Abdullah Al-Sayed, starring Sayed Ragab and Ahmed Khaled Saleh, which witnessed its premiere at the Cairo Film Festival, won 3 awards: the Photography Award, the Fibres (International Federation of Critics) and the best Arab film.
The events of "19B" take place in one of the old buildings on the outskirts of Cairo, which is inhabited only by its elderly guard after the emigration of its owners outside the country, but the simple and quiet life that our old hero wishes for becomes impossible due to the intention of one of the thugs to occupy the building and exploit it in smuggling, which leads to ignites an unequal war between them.
The movie “19B” is one of the works whose plot simplicity is the secret of its distinction. The viewer enjoys visual aesthetics such as photography and soundtrack instead of pursuing excitement and suspense, and this is what the director tried to do, but the clarity of the symbol in the film, the struggle of classes, and direct dialogue came as major negative points. An elitist and highly artistic film that is difficult to reach for the average audience who is looking for an enjoyment of events more than contemplation of photography and natural lighting.
2- The movie "The Dam"
Sudanese cinema is witnessing an artistic renaissance, in light of an industry that was dead until a few years ago. Every year, we see a few works, but they are distinguished to the extent that they reach international festivals and win awards. This year, the movie “The Dam” was directed by Ali Sher, which is the first experience as a movie A long novelist for his industry, and a joint production between Sudan, Qatar, Germany, Serbia, Lebanon and France.
The movie “The Dam” was shown at the Cannes Film Festival as a candidate for the Golden Camera Award, in addition to the San Paolo Festival, in which it won the award for best artistic achievement, and the Cairo Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Pyramid, and won the award for best actor for its hero, Maher Al-Khair, which is his first cinematic experience ever. .
The work relied entirely on individuals who did not go through the acting experience in order to obtain an honest experience, as indicated by the director of the work.
The events of the movie "The Dam" revolve during the Sudanese revolution in 2019, about "Maher", who works in a brick factory that depends on the waters of the Nile.
1- The movie "Science"
We conclude this list with the Palestinian film that won the Best Film Award at the Cairo International Film Festival, “Alam”, in addition to the Audience Choice Award, and the Best Actor jointly with the Sudanese Maher Al-Khair. The film was shown previously at the Toronto Film Festival, and it is directed by Firas Khoury and starring Mahmoud Bakri.
The events of “Alam” revolve around a group of young Arabs of 1948 who live in the heart of Israel, and are forced to learn distorted curricula that try to obliterate Palestinian history. Simple and exciting at the same time, so it deserves this position as the best Arab films in 2022.
The list of the best Arab films for the year 2022 is almost devoid of commercial films, with the exception of the Saudi “Long Trail”, which is a clear indication of the weakness of the Arab commercial cinema industry, which is witnessing attempts to copy Hollywood experiences that lack originality or success factors.