PALESTINE 36

Other movies
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.
THE STORIES
Director: Abu Bakr Shawky
In the summer of 1967 in Egypt, aspiring pianist Ahmed begins a long-distance friendship with Liz, his Austrian pen-pal. Their bond, met with suspicion by relatives, helps drive Ahmed’s pursuit of his dream: to perform in a public concert. As they navigate life’s joys and heartaches, their connection and shared ambition endure through the war, family drama and societal opposition they face in Egypt during the 1980s. The film, like Yomeddine, is infused with the director's distinct personality, showing his talent for creating characters and dialogue that are touching and memorable. This is a vivid and authentic tribute to Egypt, capturing a love story filled with the innocence and ambition of a generation during a key period in Arab history.