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"It's nothing but shooting and drugs, shooting and drugs - it's true, but it will ruin our reputation," says one youth.

Until the war which led to Israel being founded broke out in 1948, Jaffa was the considered the cultural capital of what was then British Mandate Palestine.

A young man in Ajami "doesn't know if he's Palestinian or Israeli, he's confused, he doesn't know what he is, what he wants to do," says Ms Rihan.

"I'm shocked that Jews like the film more than Arabs, even though it shows that we are like this because of them!", she adds.

The actors were not given the script, just thrown into scenarios and told to react.

Over seven years, Mr Shani learnt Arabic and says he spent more time in Ajami with Mr Copti than with his own wife, immersing himself in "a totally different world".

These events have come to light in the wake of a public build-up of suspicion and hostility toward Israel over the nebulous, US-sponsored peace plan dubbed the “deal of the century,” which most Jordanians view as a threat to their country. Jordanians have also been critical of the agreement signed in 2016 for Israel to provide Jordan with natural gas over a 10-year period. Lawmakers, led by the Islamist bloc Al-Islah, have been pressuring the government to cancel the deal.

“The small Muslim shrine on top of the high peak at Jabal an-Nabi Harun was constructed in 1330 by the Mamluk Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad.” She added, “There is a tomb inside the shrine, but there is no evidence whatsoever that it actually belongs to Aaron. Such shrines to prophets and virtuous men were built at many places by the Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans to enforce the Muslim identity of the state and to vent political discontent by the local populations.

in July the Royal Film Commission in Jordan had approved the shooting in Petra of “Jaber,” a controversial, fictional film whose storyline has Jews settling in the city after the Exodus from Egypt. Jordanians railed that the “Zionist script” fabricates an Israeli claim to the ancient city. Under public pressure, a number of Jordanian actors withdrew from the project, and on Aug. 3, the director, the Jordanian-born US national Mohydeen Izzat Quandour, announced the cancellation of the shooting.

Daoud Kuttab (who also writes for Al-Monitor) wrote, “The reality is that the current leaders in Tel Aviv and Washington have done little to calm jittery Jordanians and Palestinians, who are concerned about the growth of [a] messianic Jewish ideology that tries to connect biblical history with modern day politics.

“Religious sites should be respected, and freedom of worship and visit should not be interfered in, but the problem that faces political leaders and government officials is how to deal with the genuine worry that what appears to be a crazy notion by a few zealous individuals could one day become a political reality.” 

the deep-seated unease felt by a majority of Jordanians about Israeli intentions toward the kingdom in light of increasing tensions between Jordan and Israel over the Haram al-Sharif and the demise of the two-state solution

two powerful ayatollahs in Iran would like to see the project nipped in the bud, saying Sufism is a deviation from Shiite Islam and any attempt to promote or spread it with a movie would be "haram"

The country’s culture minister, Abbas Salehi, a cleric who doesn’t wear a turban, told reporters after the Sept. 25 Cabinet meeting that while the opinions of marjas — the highest Shiite authorities — should be respected, “the country has its own laws.” This was taken to mean that the making of the film would not be prohibited because of the objections. So far, there are no indications that the movie is being obstructed by Tehran.

Members of the hadith current have issued fatwas against mystics repeatedly. For example, a summit in Qom in 2007 declared Rumi a heretic.

Part of the opposition to the film is based on the fact that it is a co-production with Turkey. A group of experts and journalists stated their opposition to the Rumi and Shams movie owing to the presence of a Turkish producer behind the film, implying that the two countries — both of which claim the heritage of Rumi — have different interpretations on the life and works of the mystic poet.

“Drunk on Love” is not the only controversy in Iran over films that deal with religious figures. In September, member of parliament Ali Motahari called on authorities to permit the movie “Hussein Who Said No” to be screened in cinema and theaters across the country. The movie, which has been banned for seven years, narrates the story of battle of Karbala in the year 680, where the third imam of the Shiites, Hussein ibn Ali, and 72 male companions were killed by Caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya’s army. “The main obstacle [in the way] of receiving the screening permit has been the portrayal of the face of ‘Abbas’ that I believe has no religious problem,” Motahari wrote on his Instagram page Sept. 23. Motahari said Abbas ibn Ali — the half-brother of Hussein — is not one of the sacred Shiite imams, which means the portrayal of his face should not be prohibited.

Nada, une éditrice web sourde et muette introvertie sans amis ni famille visibles. Chaque nuit, elle permet aux hommes de croire qu’ils peuvent l’avoir, avant de leur infliger des actes de violence.

Avec un minimum de dialogue, Nada devient un réceptacle vide pour la vanité des hommes, leur égocentrisme, leurs désirs sordides, leur mesquinerie.

Alors que la soif de sang devient sa raison d’être, elle trouve un répit avec Noura (Rym Hayouni), sa collègue algérienne et seule figure empathique, offrant une compassion et une chaleur désarmantes à une Nada fatiguée et méfiante. Mais ce n’est qu’un palliatif, car le chemin emprunté par Nada n’a pas de point de retour.

Black Medusa s’inspire du classique culte d’Abel Ferrara sorti en 1981, L’Ange de la vengeance, à propos d’une couturière new-yorkaise muette qui, après avoir été violée et agressée deux fois en l’espace d’une journée, se lance dans une folie meurtrière, tuant des hommes au hasard chaque nuit.

Pour leur premier long métrage, Chebbi et Ismaël ont voulu contourner la voie habituelle des coproductions internationales et des laboratoires de développement de scénarios, choisissant plutôt de financer eux-mêmes leur projet à petit budget et de le tourner rapidement.

Deux mois de préproduction et douze jours de tournage plus tard, le film était presque prêt. Cette liberté rare est ce qui a permis au duo de concrétiser leur vision

« Ces [films nord-africains] peuvent sembler émanciper les femmes, mais ils le font à travers un cadre bourgeois ou capitaliste. Nada se situe en dehors de ces cadres sociaux, moraux ou historiques. »

L’usage de la violence, chorégraphié sans un soupçon de sensationnalisme, se transforme d’un instrument de nettoyage en un travail répétitif ; une dépendance de plus en plus dénuée de sens mais dévorante.

Tunis est un autre personnage principal du film. Présentée principalement dans une série composite de panoramas nocturnes rudimentaires, la capitale tunisienne émerge comme une friche urbaine discordante – une série de façades éparpillées, structurées de façon aussi chaotique que la vie des gens qui les habitent.

Les mesures homicides méthodiques observées par Nada sont une réaction au désordre de sa ville.    

Critics of the war in Libya warned that the US was siding with (and arming and empowering) violent extremists, including al-Qaida elements, that would eventually cause the US to claim it had to return to Libya to fight against them – just as its funding and arming of Saddam in Iraq and the mujahideen in Afghanistan subsequently justified new wars against those one-time allies

The falsehood told by the White House – this was just a spontaneous attack prompted by this video that we could not have anticipated and had nothing to do with – fixed all of those problems. Critical attention was thus directed to Muslims (what kind of people kill an ambassador over a film?) and away from the White House and its policies.

the number one rule of good journalism, even of good citizenship, is to remember that "all governments lie." Yet, no matter how many times we see this axiom proven true, over and over, there is still a tendency, a desire, to believe that the US government's claims are truthful and reliable.