October 2026 Recommendations

I won’t lie, October currently includes a lot of Arab films I haven’t seen so my recommendations will be limited this month. But as always, I encourage you to explore and check out something new, regardless! If you see anything this month (or ever) that you loved and didn’t see me recommend, please let me know about it! We could all use recommendations.

For this month, I have some recommendations screening as part of the 64th New York Film Festival and two first run films. There are lots of

Promotional image for Edward Said: Between Worlds

Edward Said: Between Worlds (2026) dir. Maiken Baird

I won’t lie, I went into this film with a lot of suspicion, as I often do when non-Arabs tell Arab stories. But I was delighted to see that Baird allowed Edward Said to speak for himself. Utilizing clips from tv, radio and film interviews as well as images from his family archive, the story of Said’s life and work are beautifully strung together on screen. The film is made with the assistance of his family - his wife and children - which brings me further comfort that is is representing Said as authentically as possible. I appreciate that the film doesn’t make him into a perfect hero, as he is often seen. It shows the ways he, as a writer and thinker, grew and changed. It is honest about his opinions that were controversial and the times he was not able to keep his cool while being berated by angry Zionists (though it is impressive how calm he often was speaking to these people on television - including a conversation with a young Netanyahu himself).

The film is currently showing at Film at Lincoln Center as part of New York Film Festival on October 1 & 2. Maiken Baird, Sarah Mowaswes, Razan Ghalayini, and Najla Said will be present for a Q&A following the October 1st screening. Unfortunately, all screenings are currently sold out but I hope you will keep this film on your radar for when is released in theaters!

Still from Masao Adachi Takes a Passport Photo

Masao Adachi Takes a Passport Photo (2026) dir. Kamal Aljafari

Now….this is a film I am going to recommend sight unseen. Something I typically wouldn’t do. But as a huge fan of the work of Palestinian filmmaker Kamal Aljafari, I am extremely excited to see his new short film! Please find a synopsis of the film below:

Now 87, the Japanese filmmaker Masao Adachi does not have a passport, as a consequence of his 1970s involvement with the revolutionary Japanese Red Army. In a last-ditch attempt to apply for one, he obtains his photos from a small neighborhood shop, maintained for decades by an elderly widow at the mercy of her ancient, fiddly printer. Shot by Neo Sora, Aljafari’s film is a work of deadpan hilarity and, like his 2025 feature With Hasan in Gaza, a search for lost time.

This film screens as part of the Spotlight Shorts Program at Film at Lincoln Center as part of New York Film Festival on October 4, 5 and 12th. Kamal will be present for Q&A’s following the first two screenings.

Still from Bardi

Bardi (2026) dir. Tala Hadid

NYFF actually describes this film quite well - Filmmaker and photographer Tala Hadid immersed herself in the rugged, fraternal world of a group of horse-riders in central Morocco for this visually rapturous work that merges portraiture and fabulation. With thrilling camerawork, Hadid accompanies the men as they take part in Tbourida, an equestrian military ritual that dates to the 16th century and allows them to transform into new personas. As the itinerant group rides across the country, Hadid captures with a mix of intimacy and epic grandeur their geographically expansive yet emotionally enclosed universe, with its codes of behavior and fully embodied performances of masculinity. Hadid, whose previous films include the short Your Dark Hair Ihsan (NYFF43) and the feature House in the Fields, about the Amazigh of Morocco, is fascinated with how people within communities encounter tradition, myth, and the self; Bardi is a majestic work of earthy imagination that transcends time and landscape.

A gorgeous and fascinating documentary!

Bardi screens on October 1 and 2 at Film at Lincoln Center and on October 4 at BAM Rose Cinemas as part of New York Film Festival. Director Tala Hadid will be present for Q&A’s after every screening. The second screening is currently sold out.

Who Killed Alex Odeh? (2026) dirs. Jason Osder & William Lafi Youmans

In October 1985, Santa Ana, California was shaken by a brazen act of political violence when Palestinian American Alex Odeh, a beloved teacher and community leader, was killed by a tripwire bomb planted in his office. Despite substantial evidence and identified suspects, the case was never solved. This film is extremely insightful into Zionism’s hold and Israel’s reach within the United States. While the film, for better or for worse, often tips into Netflix-true-crime-documentary territory in its style, there is so much to learn about Alex Odeh, Zionist terrorism and new developments in the case.

This film opens at Quad Cinema on October 30. There will be Q&A’s with members of the film team following screenings on October 30, 31 and November 1.

Film still from Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (2026) dir. Bassam Tariq

Now, I will be totally honest up front and let you know that I have issues with this film. I’m not a film critic or a writer so I’m not going to try to put it all in exact words, but there are elements of the plot that feel deeply disjointed to me. That being said, I think you should see this film (and I know a lot of people who love it so don’t take my word alone.)

The most important thing about this film for me is the way it centers Islam. I’m not religious but the significance of a big budget film with famous actors in America that centers Islam (and centers it not as a religion of terror and extremism) is not to be ignored. Religion in this film is real…beautiful but nuanced. It’s where Latif (Mahershala Ali) and his kids find direction, support and community. But that doesn’t stop them, or other characters in the film, from questioning their faith, from being curious about other religions and from, sometimes, doing bad things despite their faith.

I also really love the way the film brings together different Muslim communities - the film is written and directed by a Pakistani-American Muslim, it’s main characters are Black-American Muslims and it’s supporting characters are Arab-American Muslims. Plus…the cinematography is beautiful and many of the theaters are currently showing it in 35mm!

While I really wish the film was stronger, there is still so much value in seeing this film and especially in throwing your support behind a film of this nature.

This film is in theaters now! You can find it playing now or in the coming days at the Angelika Film Center, Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, AMC Lincoln Square and Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park.

Still from Anyab (Fangs)

Anyab (Fangs) (1981) dir. Mohammed Shebl

Mohammed Shebl was an incredible Egyptian filmmaker with a fantastic filmography of b-horror films which have been very nearly lost since his death in 1996. What can be found has been largely recorded from cable broadcasts. Anyab has become the most famous of his works. As written by Yalla! Party project on Instagram, it’s “a gloriously strange collision of horror, comedy, music, satire and surrealism, starring Ahmed Adaweya as Dracula. Described as the Egyptian Rocky Horror Picture Show remake, Anyab is a messy, campy, wildly imaginative cult classic that takes familiar pop-cultural forms and transforms them through an unmistakably Egyptian lens.”

I am personally fascinated by Shebl’s work and having access to Anyab 30 years after his passing is such a gift. It’s not known who has the rights to the film or where an original print might be found. Recently, a new higher resolution copy of the film has been made available after the discovery of a Betamax tape in Lebanon so the film is looking better than it has in years! Now that it’s October, there isn’t a better time to discover this wonderfully campy Dracula film.

This film will screen on October 20 at The Deep End hosted by Yalla! Party Project. You can learn more here.