Free Films on YouTube Best Films- Page 4 of 4

Jebel Nyoka – Early Marriage vs. Education in South Sudan

Jebel Nyoka Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Jebel Nyoka is a budget South Sudanese movie free to watch on YouTube that touches on the patriarchy and forced marriage. It follows a teenage girl living outside of the capital city in South Sudan. Conflict arises when her parents want her to get married instead of allowing her to finish her studies.

From: South Sudan, Africa
Watch: YouTube, IMDb
Next: The Hand of Fate, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Dhalinyaro

Jebel Nyoka – The Breakdown

Disclaimer: whilst the audio quality is more consistent than other films shot with few resources such as The Hand of Fate, it does contain a very repetitive backing track. It sounds a bit like stock filler for an 80s educational show, and unfortunately is often played over the diegetic sound and dialogue of the movie regardless of the context of the scene (playing over a rape scene as well as over family conversation). So before watching this film, be prepared to fight an urge to mute the audio from time to time.

Jebel Nyoka does have honorable intentions in the screenplay though, which touches on both the patriarchy, the lack of resources for education, and underage marriage. Kiden, our teenage female protagonist has to deal with all these issues – fighting her family and their wish for her to get married instead of supporting her education. The film sides with her and a girl’s right to education by showing her fight against her parents and marriage. However, it feels blind to the power of the patriarchy it unwittingly presents. It positions Kiden’s mother as the villain of the movie – presenting her as the driving force behind Kiden’s underage marriage even though her father holds the position of power in the family. She has to talk to crouch down to talk to him sitting in his chair, and whilst the father agrees to marry their daughter, he blames her when things go awry for pushing him to do it. Jebel Nyoka is quick to blame the female characters for problems held in place by the patriarchy.

It also features a lot of male characters that take charge of Kiden’s life without considering her perspective. Her father is one example, as is her prospective husband, but even the male characters that are presented as ‘good’ take advantage of her. The head of the orphanage is a prime example of this. Whilst he takes her in and provides her with an education, he also ships her off to another family looking for another girl to help out around the house (ironically so their own daughter can focus on her own studies). This action is never questioned, and ultimately the adopted father and the head of the orphanage become the heroes of the film. The focus on portraying benevolence in the men of Jebel Nyoka undermines the positive female story the director tries to create.

Therefore, despite honorable intentions, Jebel Nyoka’s message feels a bit empty. It highlights problems within South Sudanese society (such as underage marriage, poverty and education) without examining their root cause. Instead of looking deeper into these issues, or making a film about Kiden’s perspective, Jebel Nyoka focuses on the men around her, making them the saviors of the movie.

What to Watch Next

For a film which examines the patriarchy from a female student’s perspective, we strongly recommend watching Dhalinyaro from Djibouti. It follows a group of three high school friends facing different problems at home as the exam season starts.

If you’re looking for more low budget African films that deal with the patriarchy and forced marriage, you could watch The Hand of Fate from The Gambia.

Or if you want to watch more African films about kids using their intelligence to find a way out of poverty, try The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Bolot Feray – This Stage Adaption is the a Rare Seychellois Feature Film

Bolot Feray Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Why should you watch Bolot Feray? Because it’s the only Seychellois feature film you’re likely to find to represent the country. It’s an adaption from a comedy theatrical play and will give you an insight into the customs of traditional society in the Seychelles even if you can’t find a copy with subtitles.

From: Seychelles, Africa
Watch: YouTube, Letterboxd
Next: The Grand Marriage, Hand of Fate, Gold Watch

Bolot Feray – The Breakdown

Disclaimer: We couldn’t find this film with English subtitles. If you speak French fluently, you might pick up a few words or phrases, but as the film uses the Seychellois Creole language, it won’t be too much of a help. We decided to watch the film anyway to be able to add the only film we could find from The Seychelles to this site. However, we’ll be looking out for a copy with English subtitles and also for any more films we can review in more depth from the country. If you know of any, please let us know.

It’s pretty obvious that Bolot Feray is adapted from a stage play. Firstly, the film is split into 3 parts with each one taking place in a different location – mimicking the set changes of a stage play. Secondly, there are a few moments where an actor gives an internal monologue to the audience – looking directly at the camera – something very rare in film, but fairly common on stage, particularly in comedies. Lastly, as is typical for stage plays, Bolot Feray focuses on the dialogue more than the visual elements, making the film dialogue heavy with no cinematic innovation. Watching the stage play (also available on YouTube) will likely be a pretty similar experience to watching the movie.

The story features a family getting ready for a wedding. There’s a lot of arguing and debating between both families of the future husband and wife. Unfortunately most of this will go over your head because of the language barrier. However, you get the idea that there is a lot of soapy gossiping and drama in what they’re saying. Despite this, the final part shows the wedding going ahead, complete with speeches and singing.

Whilst there’s not much you’ll be able to understand of this dialogue heavy film if you can’t find a version with subtitles you can understand, watching this film does allow you to see a little insight into the customs of Seychellois culture. Plus, if you’re trying to complete a World Film challenge, you’ll get to see a film from the Seychelles.

What to Watch Next

If you’re looking for more films that are adapted from stage plays, try Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom or Gold Watch. Or if you’re just after the set-piece drama style, you could also try Richard Linklater’s Tape.

Or if you’re after more films about marriage in Africa, there’s The Grand Marriage, a documentary that looks at marriage customs in the Comoros. Or, for more marriage drama, check out Hand of Fate from The Gambia, a family drama centered around the marrying off of a family’s young daughter.

Dead Sands – Zombies Destroying the Bahraini Middle Class

Dead Sands Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

In the wake of a viral outbreak throughout Bahrain, a group of middle class strangers try to team up to survive. Only problem is they don’t share much in common so working together doesn’t come naturally.

If you’re looking for a B-Movie zombie movie from the Arabian peninsula that focuses more on bickering vs. actual zombie smashing, this is the movie you’re looking for.

From: Bahrain, Asia
Watch: YouTube, IMDb
Next: Night of the Living Dead, Attack the Block, Rattle the Cage

Dead Sands – The Breakdown

Dead Sands‘ hits a bunch of the zombie movie notes in the opening to establish itself as a horror movie. It starts with a Doctor’s warning to the population on a radio broadcast which is largely ignored by the radio host (the prophecy of impending doom). This is followed by an everyday scene which turns into a zombie attack. A woman and man argue, the man disappears with his dog, the dog squeals (sign no.1), the woman calls out to her friend but receives no answer (sign no.2), before the friend (and later the man who she was arguing with) come back to zombify her. This is classic zombie horror movie 101 and sets the movie up for viewers already familiar with the genre in order to make fun of it.

However, whilst Dead Sands positions itself as a satirical comedy of the genre, it doesn’t fully deliver on its promise. There’s little which satirizes the genre apart from a character flip – the long haired, Rambo-looking hard man is a gentle hairdresser. Instead the film almost forgets that it is a zombie movie as the narrative centers on the arguing between the characters. There’s a lot of character development and very few zombies. The only benefit is that the bickering is where the humor comes from. It’s funny to see a group of people unable to get along for trivial reasons, even in such desperate circumstances.

Maybe the focus on their bickering is a metaphor for their zombie-like reality. They’re all youthful members of a Bahraini middle class stuck in a country that’s too small for them. Half of them spoiled kids that you’d imagine come from the international school systems (speaking English) expecting more to life, and the other half are striving to be on the same social level. They come together as they all attend one of the few social centers available to them. They’re not overly surprised or terrified by the zombies as their social lives are already dead. There aren’t many options in their home country (Bahrain is only larger than Singapore and the Maldives in Asia) and therefore the zombies aren’t much of a change.

It’s entertaining to hear the relentless arguing in a horror movie but if you’re looking for a typical zombie movie set in Bahrain you might be a bit disappointed by the lack of action. Make sure you go into this movie knowing it’s a B-Movie focused on the bickering instead of the action.

What to Watch Next

If you want to go to the root of all today’s zombie movies, watch George A Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Or if you want to watch more contemporary zombie horror movies featuring ordinary conversations try Attack the Block and Shaun of the Dead.

Or, if you’re just looking for more genre movies from the Arabian peninsula check out Rattle the Cage from the UAE.

The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived (Oman) – Feminist Revolution

The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

The Hour of Liberation has Arrived is the only first-hand account of the democratic, feminist Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf. Enabled by recent advances in film technology, the film gave voices to the voiceless to create one of the most direct revolutionary documentaries from the Arab world and beyond.

From: Oman, Asia
Watch: YouTube
Next: Battle of Algiers, Flame, Mortu Nega

Why Watch The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived?

For one of the best examples of a revolutionary documentary film, helped by recent technological advances to film equipment
It broke boundaries – it was the first film directed by an Arab woman that was screened at Cannes (in 1974)
It’s the only first-hand account of the democratic, feminist guerrilla movement against the British backed Sultanate of Oman

The Breakdown

The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived offers the only glimpse of the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf, a secular, democratic, feminist revolutionary movement that managed to liberate one third of the Sultanate of Oman. In the region they liberated, the Front launched an extensive program of social reforms, captured in this revolutionary documentary, the most radical being affirmative action for women.

Filmed in 1971, The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived was made possible due to advances in film technology. It brought voices to the voiceless through synch sound (sound recorded at the time of filming). Whilst synch sound had been around since the birth of sound movies, it had only recently become more portable with new hand-held filming equipment that could record sound and video by itself, without a separate sound recorder. Without this advance in technology, this film wouldn’t have been made, as the 800 kilometers that Heiny Srour and her Team had to walk to reach the Front (under the bombing of the British Royal Air Force) would have been dauntingly arduous. The advance in synch sound technology allowed filmmakers, particularly documentary filmmakers, to capture otherwise inaccessible locations. The less intrusive equipment also allowed filmmakers to capture more authentic representations of reality – a truckload of equipment, lighting, and larger crews make people act different to one person filming with a small camera.

The film pieces together stock and live footage, photography, maps, and voice-over narration to create both a first-hand account of the movement, as well as a revolutionary manifesto. The photography and live footage provide the first-hand account of the revolutionaries and their day to day activities, whilst the stock footage, maps, and voice-over narration provide the anti-imperialist impetus that drives them. Its use of a range of media to tell its message looks raw, like a modern, student-made essay film, but this gives the documentary an authenticity that studio-made movies couldn’t replicate. Free from the ties to corporations/companies, governments and heavy, expensive film equipment, Srour could make whatever film she wanted. This is revolutionary cinema at its most direct.

What to Watch Next

You don’t have to turn far to watch more revolutionary cinema. For the big budget films, turn to the brilliant Cuban films sponsored by the USSR such as I Am Cuba and Lucia or Pontecorvo’s docu-drama of the Algerian fight for independence in Battle of Algiers. You can also find gold in lower budget third cinema films such as Flame, Mortu Nega, and Sambizanga.

To see how further technological advances have enabled filmmakers to get even closer to the revolution, check out some films enabled by the digital revolution, such as The Square, Winter on Fire, and The Edge of Democracy.