Free Zone (2005)

Recommended

Israel/Belgium/France/Spain
Feature Film
Director: Amos Gitai
Writers: Amos Gitai, Marie-Jose Sanselme
Cinematographer: Laurent Brunet
Cast: Natalie Portman, Hanna Laszlo, Hiam Abbass, Makram Khoury

Although the dialogue at times is a little didactic, this much maligned film (panned almost universally by critics and public alike), a talky, languorously paced, minimalist look at the middle eastern troubles through the eyes of an American outsider, is a frustratingly brilliant example of brave, uncompromising film-making, filled with excellent performances and dazzling formal experiments. Iain.Stott