Programmer Emily Basma challenges typical Middle Eastern tropes offered by Hollywood by curating a triad of women-directed and -centric cinema from the region. First up is Tuesday’s Sirens, which journeys through the rough-and-tumble times of the Middle East’s first all-female metal band. Wednesday settles us in a Beirut hair salon for director Nadine Labaki’s Caramel, in which the titular treat also describes the sticky but sweet relationship between the five lead women. Groundbreaking drama Wadjda comes in on Thursday with a story about a girl, her bike, and the streets of Riyadh that’s got two firsts attached: the first feature shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first made by a female Saudi director. – James Scott
