A gorgeous, cracking adventure with a smart ring of authenticity, full of pulpy twists and perils, and with a sweetly naive but gruffly charming young hero. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
In the Arabian desert in 1916, a young Bedouin boy, Theeb (Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat), invites himself along on what, we may imagine, he supposes will be a grand adventure: his elder brother, Hussein (Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen) is leading a lost English soldier on a secret mission to a distant railroad line. Theeb, who is perhaps eight or nine years old, and the youngest son of his tribe’s recently deceased sheik, doesn’t know what a railroad is, but he is entranced by the mysterious — and strikingly pale and blond! — stranger, and the enticing wooden box he carries, over which the soldier freaks out if Theeb gets too close.
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
In the Arabian desert in 1916, a young Bedouin boy, Theeb (Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat), invites himself along on what, we may imagine, he supposes will be a grand adventure: his elder brother, Hussein (Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen) is leading a lost English soldier on a secret mission to a distant railroad line. Theeb, who is perhaps eight or nine years old, and the youngest son of his tribe’s recently deceased sheik, doesn’t know what a railroad is, but he is entranced by the mysterious — and strikingly pale and blond! — stranger, and the enticing wooden box he carries, over which the soldier freaks out if Theeb gets too close.
- 2/28/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The entire Academy Awards endeavour seems to expand every year, as more and more often, shortlists are announced during the behind-the-scenes nominations process, ahead of the final nominations announcement. While that tends to make the awards season feel even longer, it does much to raise the profile of films that might otherwise be little noticed by general audiences – including those submitted to the Academy for consideration as Best Foreign Film.
The Academy accepts one submission from each country, and the deadline for those submissions was October 1st this year. The selection process then has two phases. In the first phase, the Foreign Language Film Award Committee screens each submission, and selects six for shortlisting, with an additional three selected by the Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee. This set of nine films is then announced as the shortlist, and this is the announcement we have seen today.
The shortlisted films...
The Academy accepts one submission from each country, and the deadline for those submissions was October 1st this year. The selection process then has two phases. In the first phase, the Foreign Language Film Award Committee screens each submission, and selects six for shortlisting, with an additional three selected by the Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee. This set of nine films is then announced as the shortlist, and this is the announcement we have seen today.
The shortlisted films...
- 12/22/2015
- by Sarah Myles
- We Got This Covered
1916. The Ottoman Empire. A vast, arid landscape. All part of one of the greatest cinema epics of all time (actually Steven Spielberg watches it before he begins a directing a feature). Of course we’re talking about David Lean’s Lawrence Of Arabia. But not in this case. Same setting, same period, very different film. This new motion picture is told through the eyes of the title character, Theeb (Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat). This boy of eight or nine is part of an isolated tribe of Bedouins. His father was the head of said tribe, but he and Theeb’s mother have died. His older, teenage brother Hussein (Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen) has taken on the parental role, teaching the lad who to find water, tend the goats, and fire a rifle (lots of raiders and rebels about). One night as the boys, along with the tribe elders, gather about the communal fire,...
- 11/8/2015
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Jordanian director Naji Abu Nowar’s desert coming-of-age thriller Theeb at times plays like a corrective to Lawrence of Arabia. It’s set in 1916, during World War I, when the Arabian Peninsula was still under Ottoman rule and the British were working with local tribes to overthrow them. You wouldn’t really know these geopolitics from looking at the film, though: Told from the point of view of a young bedouin boy, this tale unfolds very much in the timeless, spare world of the desert. But these are not the sensuously undulating, lunar dunes of David Lean’s masterpiece; rather, the desert in Theeb feels intimate, rough, real. You can run your hands through the sand and feel the flies on your face. That realism extends to the characters as well, thankfully. Living in the desert, Theeb (Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat) and his older brother Hussein (Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen) are the sons of a recently departed,...
- 11/7/2015
- by Bilge Ebiri
- Vulture
If the impetus behind many feature debuts — great and terrible alike — is to proclaim a helmer’s talents for all who might bother listening, Theeb‘s greatest distinction lies in its reliance on the misunderstood. The impression left by Naji Abu Nowar, credited as a co-writer alongside Bassel Ghandour, is a greater interest in what we must presume and concede than what we can understand and apply, instead trusting that his collaborators will utilize their own strengths — strengths often secondary to the logic or understanding that might go into a single moment — for harmonizing a vision of dangerous lands.
With tonal and pacing sensibilities that are nestled somewhere between Jauja and Timbuktu on my personal “languid, vista-dominated films of 2015″ chart, it’s mostly built on intrigue — the “who” and “what” of its events coinciding with the “how” of a scenario’s possible outcomes. Its action is set circa 1916 in the...
With tonal and pacing sensibilities that are nestled somewhere between Jauja and Timbuktu on my personal “languid, vista-dominated films of 2015″ chart, it’s mostly built on intrigue — the “who” and “what” of its events coinciding with the “how” of a scenario’s possible outcomes. Its action is set circa 1916 in the...
- 11/6/2015
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Jordan’s submission to the upcoming Academy Awards’ Best Foreign-Language Film category will be Naji Abu Nowar’s Theeb.
Theeb, from debut director Naji Abu Nowar, has been selected by Jordan’s Oscar committee as the country’s official entry for the 2016 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Telling the story of a young Bedouin boy embarking on a dangerous journey to escort a British officer across the desert, the film stars Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen, Hassan Mutlag Al-Maraiyeh and Jack Fox.
Theeb premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2014, where it picked up the Venice Horizons Award for best director, before screening in Toronto and London.
Fortissimo Films is handling international sales. Film Movement has picked up distribution rights in the Us.
Theeb, from debut director Naji Abu Nowar, has been selected by Jordan’s Oscar committee as the country’s official entry for the 2016 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Telling the story of a young Bedouin boy embarking on a dangerous journey to escort a British officer across the desert, the film stars Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat, Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen, Hassan Mutlag Al-Maraiyeh and Jack Fox.
Theeb premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2014, where it picked up the Venice Horizons Award for best director, before screening in Toronto and London.
Fortissimo Films is handling international sales. Film Movement has picked up distribution rights in the Us.
- 9/9/2015
- ScreenDaily
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
- 1/8/2015
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...
- 1/8/2015
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
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