São Paulo – From comedy to drama, Arab films make up a long list and are part of an industry that grows every year. Arab cinema offers titles worth watching.
Telling diverse stories with memorable Arab characters, this film industry has its productions featured on global streaming catalogs.
As a highlight of this sector, cinemas in Saudi Arabia—one of the countries that has been producing the most among Arab nations—ended 2024 with 17.5 million tickets sold at the box office, according to data from the Arab country’s Film Commission.
This boom in the Arab audiovisual sector has been bringing more and more stories from the Arab world to global audiences. With that in mind, here are five Saudi films that the whole family can enjoy.
Wadjda (2012)
The first Saudi film directed by a woman, Haifaa al-Mansour, tells the fictional story of a 12-year-old girl who wants just one thing: to save money to buy a bicycle. With elements of adventure, the film is essentially a drama that tackles social themes about female independence in Saudi Arabia.
Basma (2024)
In this more recent drama by director Fatima AlBanawi, a young Saudi academic returns to live with her father to help him cope with his mental illness and ends up learning an important life lesson. Living in Los Angeles, USA, Basma moves back to Jeddah, a city in Saudi Arabia located on the eastern coast of the Red Sea.
Masameer Junior (2025)
In this animated comedy, which blends adventure and life lessons aimed at young adults, three six-year-old children set off on a chaotic journey to perform the greatest “good deed” of all. The friends—Tarrad, Sultouh, and Saad—embark on an unexpected adventure after their teacher warns them about the consequences of their harmful actions in childhood. Thinking about the impact on the future, they set out in search of paradise, hoping to make amends for the mistakes they’ve made.
Fakenapping (2025)
Looking for some laughs? In this other Saudi comedy, Sattam, a failed Arab entrepreneur who has tried everything to succeed and ended up in debt to loan sharks, hatches an absurd plan to escape his debts: kidnap his own father and demand a ransom from the family to pay off his bills.
Cartas na Manga (2022)
This comedy anthology tells four different stories, ranging from touching to hilarious, all centered around the theme of deception and lies. The plots are so intricate that the stories involve everything from tire thieves crashing a wedding to a man going to great lengths to hide the secret of a deceased person.
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Report by Rebecca Vettore, in collaboration with ANBA
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
