Censorship and Cinema: The Hidden Battles of Arab Filmmakers

posted on: Sep 17, 2025

By: Fayzeh Abou Ardat / Arab America Contributing Writer

Cinema in the Arab world has always served a purpose other than amusement. It lets people share tales, challenge traditions, and raise awareness about concerns society often silences. However, many filmmakers face a significant challenge: censorship. Governments, religious organizations, and social standards all attempt to regulate what is on screen. Despite these obstacles filmmakers continue to fight, utilizing cinema as a means of survival and a form of quiet protest.

Political considerations often drive censorship in the Middle East. Many governments are concerned about how films may portray them or expose painful realities. Authorities sometimes prohibit or heavily edit movies about corruption, war crimes, or political tyranny. Furthermore, there are cultural and religious constraints that prohibit discussions about sexuality, gender roles, and questioning customs. These levels of supervision make it incredibly difficult for filmmakers to create authentic art. However, the fight has amplified the power of filmmaking in the region. Each picture that survives censorship becomes a daring act of resistance, pushing the boundaries in ways that conventional speech cannot.

Resistance Through Storytelling

Despite censorship, many Arab filmmakers refuse to remain silent. Instead, they use subtle means to convey their point. For example, rather than overtly criticizing governments, they employ analogies, symbolism, and allegory. A family story may mirror a nation’s challenges, while a romance drama may contain implications about freedom and choice. These inventive tactics enable films to bypass censorship while still reaching audiences with deeper meanings.

Palestinian cinema is a powerful manifestation of this struggle. Filmmakers there frequently confront both political and practical constraints, such as limited funding and restricted access to overseas viewers. However, Palestinian filmmakers have created films that emphasize the daily challenges of occupation and the quest for identity. Even when specific Arab nations ban these films, they build international reputations and draw attention to the concerns local censors try to suppress.

Egypt, widely regarded as the home of Arab cinema, has its own history of censorship conflicts. The Egyptian government has traditionally censored what appears on television, particularly when it comes to religion and politics. Nonetheless, directors have managed to dodge harsh criticism by employing humour, historical parallels, or hyperbole. Satire, in particular, has emerged as a method of resistance, ridiculing authority structures while amusing audiences. In these ways, censorship has not suppressed filmmakers; rather, it has forced them to be more creative.

The Global Stage and Local Impact

It’s remarkable how censorship in the Middle East frequently has the opposite impact of what governments seek. They might bring more attention to works by banning films or restricting particular themes. When a film is banned, it frequently creates headlines and piques interest both inside and beyond the region. Censorship, strangely, can serve as free advertising for filmmakers, exposing their work to a larger audience.

Film festivals play an important role here. International film festivals in Europe, North America, and even the Middle East have become breeding grounds for restricted films. Directors from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and other nations have exhibited their work internationally, receiving critical praise and accolades. This accreditation not only validates them, but also puts pressure on local governments that have attempted to quiet them. Arab audiences, particularly younger generations, frequently find ways to watch these films online or in underground screenings. This produces an alternative movie culture in which resistance flourishes outside of official outlets.

At the same time, censorship continues to have a significant impact domestically. Many filmmakers struggle to secure funding because investors are concerned about government retribution. Others suffer personal hazards such as harassment, spying, and even jail time. Despite these obstacles, making films in such conditions becomes a type of bravery. Each film is both an artistic and political endeavour, challenging censorship.

Films That Challenged the Boundaries

• Msha’lab (2024): was restricted in Lebanon after General Security ordered the removal of a 20-second demonstration depicting police violence, demonstrating how even brief images of opposition are suppressed.
• Perfect Strangers (2022): outraged in countries like Egypt for incorporating subjects such as homosexuality, infidelity, sexual references, and candid talks of moral/taboo concerns, with some governmental figures pushing for a ban on it or Netflix for violating social standards.
• No Other Land (2024): is a Palestinian-Israeli documentary that suffers challenges and political criticism for revealing the forced displacement of Palestinians, with some cinemas threatening to broadcast it and critics accusing it of propaganda.
• The Teacher (2025): follows a Palestinian teacher in the West Bank attempting to balance risking political resistance, while coping with settler violence, and home demolitions.
• Palestine 36 (upcoming): is set during the 1936-1939 Palestinian Arab Revolt against British colonial power, the story follows a young man divided between his rural origins and mounting unrest in Jerusalem, showing resistance as a personal, identity-shaping struggle rather than just a protest.
• From Ground Zero (2024): is a Palestinian anthology film comprised of 22 short films created by Gazan filmmakers in the midst of bombardment, blackouts, and loss that resists erasure by showing daily life, grief, and hope in the Gaza Strip.
• Valley of Exile (2023): follows Syrian sisters fleeing the violence in Damascus and seeking safety in a makeshift village in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, where their fight to survive tests their commitment to family, country, and one another.
• The Sparrow (1972): is a symbolic Egyptian film that criticizes government corruption and military failure leading up to the Six-Day War. It was so controversial at the time that it was censored by the state and disputed before being released.
• Wadjda (2012): shot in Saudi Arabia sparked controversy due to strict gender rules requiring her to direct some scenes from inside a van using a walkie-talkie. This demonstrates how censorship and social restrictions shaped both the film’s making and its message.
• The Dupes (1973): based on Ghassan Kanafani’s novel, the film follows three Palestinian refugees who are trapped in a smuggler’s truck. It was prohibited or banned in various Arab nations due to its sharp political message about exile and resistance.

Conclusion

The conflict between filmmakers and censorship in the Middle East is ongoing and shows no signs of slowing down. For every film authorities prohibit or censor, another emerges to question their regulations. Although governments impose censorship to safeguard themselves and their traditions, it often sparks greater innovation and resistance. The stories depicted by Arab filmmakers demonstrate that cinema is more than just entertainment; it is a weapon against silence, a repository of hidden realities, and a voice for people who cannot always speak up.

In many respects, the art of resistance through film parallels the greater struggles in the Middle East. People continue to resist limits in their pursuit of freedom, individuality, and justice. By delivering meaningful stories, filmmakers become both artists and activists. Even when authorities restrict their films, these artists make their voices heard across boundaries, proving that art can resist, survive, and inspire change.

Want more articles like this? Sign up for our e-newsletter!

Check our blog here!