ASEER MEMORY
Genre
Documentary and Biography
Running time
18 minutes
Year
2024
Language
Arabic
Subtitle
English
Country
Saudi Arabia
Director
Saad Tahaitah
Bio
Producer
Ahmed Alkenani
Cast
Mohammed Abdul Motalle, Ali Al Quotb, Mohammed Almaber
Scriptwriter
Born into a family of scholars, Mohammed Al-Matali has devoted his life to furthering his father’s library of precious old books and original documents that are often the only local sources of information about the area where he grew up, Aseer. Along with his collections, he has photographed and made videos of the prehistoric petroglyphs and ancient forts that stand witness to a rich history only now being researched and recorded. For his latest project, he is discovering forgotten local street names in the hope of restoring them to local villages, thus helping preserve a memory of the past. A vivid picture of one man’s passion for knowledge and his gift to future generations.
Other movies
SAIPAN
Director: Lisa Barros D'sa
The tensions surrounding Ireland's 2002 FIFA World Cup bid are universal to any country that has dared to hope for footballing glory. Add Roy Keane's unique personality to the mix and you have an exciting, funny, tense drama, superbly performed by the double act of Steve Coogan as Ireland’s shambling manager Mick McCarthy and newcomer Éanna Hardwicke as the Manchester United force of nature that is Keane. This is no underdog story — it would take a braver person than McCarthy to call the eternally prickly Keane that — but directors Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn have fashioned a crowd-pleasing double-act nonetheless. Tip: watch out for a cameo from the Saudi Arabia team.
HIJRA
Director: Shahad Ameen
A grandmother and her two granddaughters journey from Taif to Mecca. When the eldest granddaughter vanishes, the two remaining women travel north to find her, with their search highlighting the deep cultural and generational bonds between Saudi women. Set against the backdrop of the Hajj pilgrimage, Hijra portrays the intimate and emotional odyssey of these women, which evolves into a spiritual quest. Their journey carries the weight of an entire heritage and offers an emotional, powerful and insightful look at identity. Shot across eight Saudi cities, the film provides a deep dive into the nation’s rich cultural tapestry. Actress Khairia Nazmi infuses the story with profound emotion due to her strength and energy.
KWIBUKA, REMEMBER
Director: Jonas D'adesky
In Kwibuka, Remember, Jonas D’Adesky tells the story of Lia, a Belgian-Rwandan basketball player facing the twilight of her career. Twenty years after fleeing the genocide, she is asked to join the Rwandan national basketball team. This journey stirs buried memories of a painful past: exile, family silences and the pain of a fractured identity. Through her eyes, the film explores confrontation between memory and the present, and a nation scarred by tragedy with a contemporary Rwanda brimming with life and creativity. The strength of Kwibuka, Remember lies in the delicate handling of generational trauma while highlighting collective hope. Balancing intimacy and history, the film transcends personal drama to deliver a universal story of resilience.
NORMAL
Director: Ben Wheatley
Normal's night of reckoning and west-meets-east thrills and blood-spills is dark, absurdly funny and drenched in its own B movie with A movie viewing sensibility. Back in trenchant Free Fire form, Ben Wheatley directs Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, the Nobody movies) from a script by Odenkirk and John Wick creator Derek Kolstad. It's mid-winter, and Odenkirk is Ulysses, a laid-back, somewhat oblivious sheriff on a temporary job in a tiny Minnesota town where all is certainly not what it seems — as heavily signalled by an ultra-violent prologue featuring a yakuza standoff in Osaka. Normal is the name of this burg of 1,890 cheerful inhabitants (including cameos from Henry Winkler and Lena Headey), but the film is decidedly anything but.