the 10 best Arab films of 2025

Arab cinema continues to break new ground – in subject matter, in artistry, and in resonance. In the context of ongoing regional conflict, film has also become one of the most direct ways for audiences beyond the region to engage with its history, culture and, crucially, its humanity.

Closer to home, the picture is even richer. These films point to a new golden age taking shape – one defined by range rather than uniformity, and by stories that move confidently across genres and forms. Crucially, many of the most compelling works of the year are not shaped primarily for consumption by the West, but rather function as internal examinations of the past, present and future – speaking as much to current generations as to those still to come.

There have been scores of remarkable dramas and documentaries from the region this year, with more still on the festival circuit and yet to be released to the public in 2026. From among that treasure trove, the films below stand out as some of the most vital.

1. The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)

The Voice of Hind Rajab, one of the most devastating films of the year, is anchored by powerful performances. Photo: Mime Films & Tanit Films

Make no mistake – The Voice of Hind Rajab, from acclaimed Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, is the most emotionally affecting film of the year, and one of the most devastating films ever made. That’s not primarily due to the dramatisation elements – anchored by Palestinian actors Motaz Malhees and Saja Kilani’s powerful performances as the Red Crescent volunteers who take five-year-old Gazan girl’s emergency call. Rather, the soul of the film is in its reality – it’s in Hind’s actual voice, used throughout.

It’s in the gentleness with which she pleads with them to come get her before night falls because she’s afraid of the dark – the matter-of-fact tone with which she grapples with the fact that the deceased family members surrounding her in the car in which she’s trapped are not just sleeping.

No single film could cover the totality of Gaza’s tragedy since October 7, but in zooming in on one girl’s story, not only do we fully experience the unequivocal crime of her killing, but we also see the unbearable agony of what it’s like for those who were forced to bear witness, unable to stop what unfolded.

If you’re never able to watch it again, I won’t blame you – I cried from start to finish myself. But it should be seen by anyone near or far. Hind Rajab's story deserves to endure.

2. The President’s Cake (Iraq)

Hasan Hadi's film portrays the conflicting hardships of life under former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Photo: TPC Film

The President’s Cake, the debut feature of director Hasan Hadi, echoes his own childhood in southern Iraq under Saddam Hussein. At a time of severe scarcity – when sugar and flour were outright banned – children were still tasked with baking a cake in honour of the former leader’s birthday, with failure carrying real and lasting consequences. One of Hadi’s friends was expelled from school, conscripted into Saddam’s children’s army and later died.

The film draws on that memory without retelling it literally. Instead, it follows nine-year-old Lamia as she moves through her town in search of ingredients, navigating empty shelves and adults both kind and predatory, never quite sure who can be trusted. Shot with restrained naturalism and anchored by Baneen Ahmad Nayyef’s unsentimental performance, the film captures the quiet fear and warped logic of everyday life without spelling it out.

Hadi resists explanation or moral instruction. He isn’t translating Iraq’s past for outsiders so much as remembering it, allowing politics to surface through detail and texture. The result is a film that builds gently but inexorably, before landing on an ending whose force comes not from shock, but from recognition – a reminder of how easily childhood can be shaped, and damaged, by the systems that surround it.

3. Happy Birthday (Egypt)

In its early minutes, Happy Birthday, directed by Sarah Goher and co-written with Mohamed Diab, initially pre