This Jordan/UK/UAE/Qatar co-production, directed by Oxford-born Naji Abu Nowar, is about a young Bedouin boy fighting for survival in the deserts of Hijaz (now part of Saudi Arabia) in the first world war. Magnificently shot in Jordan, and cast with non-professional Bedouin actors, notably wide-eyed, engaging young lead Jacir Eid, Theeb is a stark, tense affair that feels strangely timeless; with its leisurely but to-the-point pacing, it feels like the sort of laconic art-house drama that could have been made at any time over the past five decades. Involving rather than totally gripping, but with an unimpeachable ring of authenticity.
