Author: Deborah Young

The influence of a conservative new imam on a Moroccan tribal village is an economic, emotional and cultural disaster in ‘Goundafa, the Cursed Song’, which neatly embraces the simplicity of the people and their ancient lifestyle.

‘Azza’ is a whirlwind, four wheel drive tour of a hidden side of Saudi Arabia, in which documaker Stephanie Brockhaus acquaints the audience with a boldly irrepressible young woman in search of her independence.

Sarra Abidi’s slow-moving existential drama set in a remote Tunisian call center painstakingly illustrates what living a life of quiet desperation really means in ‘Looking for Ayda’.

In ‘The Silent Run’, Marta Bergman’s reconstruction of a tragic true story about a young migrant family trying to enter England from Belgium carves out its niche in the familiar European genre by shifting viewpoints between the determined, frightened refugees and the police whose job it is to stop them.

In a low-key, understated documentary energized by its powerful message, director Zahraa Ghandour makes a soft-spoken, heartfelt plea for compassion for the many abandoned, abused and even murdered female children who are branded as unwanted in Iraq.