Political conflicts make for captivating cinema. They have a gripping, universally understood quality as well as providing action leaning into tragedy. This can help to establish empathy with the protagonists. Some filmmakers use this formula as the basis for something artistically compelling rather than a mere war movie or thriller. This creates a much deeper impact and makes the audience think.

One such film, Meet the Barbarians, is about a Syrian family that immigrates to a small town called Paimpont in Brittany, in the northwest of France. Directed and written by Julie Delpy, who also stars in it, it was screened in the International Competition of the 45th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF). In a video message that was shown before the screening, Delpy expressed her happiness about the film being screened at the Cairo Film Festival and said she hoped to discuss the refugee issue through comedy because she believes that is the shortest path to the audience.

The comedy derives from the way Deply mocks people with prejudice against refugees. It opens with the preparation of the Paimpont council and mayor, Sébastien Lejeune (Jean-Charles Clichet), for receiving an immigrant Ukrainian family. They even raise the Ukrainian flag over the mayor’s office to welcome them. But it turns out a mistake has been made: the refugees department is sending in a Syrian family instead. The Syrian family consists of Marwan Fayad (Ziad Bakri), his wife Louna (Dalia Naous), his father Hassan Fayad (Fares Helou), his sister Alma (Rita Hayek), his son Wael (Adam) and his daughter Dina (Ninar). At this moment the filmmaker shows European double standards regarding humanitarian issues.

The main plotline revolves around Marwan, an architect who doesn’t want to work in any other field, trying to adjust to his new life. His family is trying hard to blend in with the town residents. On the other hand, there is an antagonist, the racist plumber Riou (Laurent Lafitte), who is trying as hard as he can to drive him out of the town. But there is a subplot for each member of Fayad family. Louna, a graphic designer, finds work with a very old farmer, Auteuil (Albert Delpy), who lives alone. Hassan, a poet, develops a relationship with an elderly lady who owns a restaurant. Dina, a teenager, has a childish love affair with her classmate, while Wael is bullied by students who call Arabs terrorists.

Alma, on the other hand, is a significant character. She is a doctor who lost her leg and her husband to an  explosion at the hospital where she worked. Her history is reviewed in a meeting with some of the town residents briefing them about the background to the Fayad family seeking asylum.

The schoolteacher Joëlle (Delpy) is trying as hard as she can to help this family to settle down and confront racism as well as teaching the children. But the script also gives depth to her character when she is seen having a video conference with an Arab refugee care officer in Zaatari camp in Jordan. She has feelings for this man, and that is why she decides to start refugee work towards the end of the film.

The film ends somewhat predictably when Riou’s pregnant wife Géraldine (India Hair), who is about to give birth while all of the town residents were enjoying the sun by the lake, is rescued by Alma Fayad, and insists on naming her baby girl Alma, confronting her husband about his xenophobia.

The filmmaker divides the story into chapters and each has a title shown against the background of a famous Orientalist painting about a conflict in the Middle East.

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Another intriguing film that deals with war is When the Phone Rang, directed and written by Iva Radivojevic, also screened in the International Competition. It is a poetic narrative set in the course of the devastating Yugoslav Wars, which took place in several stages between 1991 and 2001 and brought down the Republic of Yugoslavia, leading to the formation of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia. The film follows Lana, an eleven-year-old girl, doing what she usually does everyday in her life.

It opens with a female narrator saying, “When the phone rang it was Friday at 10:36 in the morning. In 1992, the country of X was still a country.” The frame is a unique wall clock. The significance of this scene is that it recurs many times in the course of the film, like a poetic refrain. In the first scene, Lana is alone at home when she picks up the phone; her father, mother and elder sister Vanija are out and she is the only one to receive the news of her grandfather’s death.

Since that particular moment the filmmaker shows glimpses of Lana’s world: how she enjoys listening to Bizet’s Carmen, watches the television set in her parents’ bedroom knowing that her father hides porn tapes under his bed. For over an hour there is no sign of drama as such, focusing instead on Lana’s friends and acquaintances and her childish pursuits. For example, she and her friend follow some random ladies from the market to their apartments, pretending they are visiting someone in the building. In the background are a few details of the tension brewing rapidly in the community and the weapons spreading among civilians, also hinting at what is to come with shots of the empty streets full of Soviet architecture.

Another character in Lana’s building is Vlada, who seems to be a teenage thug. He is seen more than once smoking, sniffing glue and drinking alone. But the narrator says that he died of an overdose which his parents said was a heart attack. In one scene he is dancing and laughing with Lana in his apartment, as if he too has become one of her happy memories. Interestingly, the filmmaker never shows the faces of Lana’s father or mother, only those who had created her vanishing world.

It is never stated that the narrator is Lana at an earlier age. At the end the voice mentions everyone: Lana’s friends, her sister, mother, father, even the video shop owner who is abandoned by everyone, at which point it is on the verge of tears.

Radivojevic managed to create not only a cinematic poem, but also a piece of art in every single shot, especially outdoors. But what is astonishing about the film is the acting of every character, even the smallest roles in the film. Born in Belgrade, now living in the US, Radivojevic has made documentaries and won several awards. This is her second feature narrative, and it won a special mention in Locarno Film Festival 2024.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 28 November, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly