In Theaters 11.06.2015 or Watch at Home 02.19.2016

Theeb

Directed by Naji Abu Nowar
Film Movement
2014
100 Minutes
United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, United Kingdom
Arabic
Coming of Age, Thriller, Drama
Not Rated

Nominated for the 2016 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1916, while war rages in the Ottoman Empire, Hussein raises his younger brother Theeb ("Wolf") in a traditional Bedouin community that is isolated by the vast, unforgiving desert. The brothers’ quiet existence is suddenly interrupted when a British Army officer and his guide ask Hussein to escort them to a water well located along the old pilgrimage route to Mecca. So as not to dishonor his recently deceased father, Hussein agrees to lead them on the long and treacherous journey. The young, mischievous Theeb secretly chases after his brother, but the group soon find themselves trapped amidst threatening terrain riddled with Ottoman mercenaries, Arab revolutionaries, and outcast Bedouin raiders. Naji Abu Nowar’s powerful and assured directorial debut, set in the land of Lawrence of Arabia, is a wondrous "Bedouin Western" about a boy who, in order to survive, must become a man and live up to the name his father gave him.

Director & Cast

  • Director: Naji Abu Nowar
  • Starring: Jacir Eid
  • Starring: Hassan Mutlag
  • Starring: Hussein Salameh
  • Starring: Marji Audeh
  • Starring: Jack Fox

Trailer

Photos

Reviews

  • "A classic adventure film of the best kind, and one that's rarely seen these days!"
    Jay Weissberg, Variety
  • "THEEB is a jewel! Hail to the power of cinema."
    E. Nina Rothe, Huffington Post
  • "Theeb deals with is nothing less grand than survival; survival on an individual level for the protagonist but also the survival of a culture and a way of life."
    Boyd van Hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter
  • "CRITIC'S PICK. The wide-open spaces of Jordan, where “Theeb” was filmed, are as awe-inspiring in their breadth and aridity as the vistas in a spaghetti western. "
    Stephen Holden, The New York Times