Among some of last year’s stiffest competition, Naji Abu Nowar rose to the top of Venice’s crop with his Best Director winner Theeb. Reviews posted there and since then have been strong, for the most part praising Nowar’s sense of atmosphere, tone, and pacing, all while lauding the good, old-fashioned western narrative at this picture’s heart. Why it will take more than a year between that debut and its U.S. theatrical release — one by a relatively small company at that — is another matter entirely.
It is coming, regardless, and the trailer for a U.S. engagement has been unveiled for your eyes. And what a beauty, from the expressive beige of the desert to the variety of images to the intense movement of individual shots — enough, even in only 80 seconds, to give some indication as to how and why Theeb‘s been earning plaudits for some time.
View the preview below (via Apple):
Synopsis:
1916. While war rages in the Ottoman Empire, Hussein raises his younger brother Theeb (“Wolf”) in a traditional Bedouin community that is isolated by the vast, unforgiving desert. The brothers’ quiet existence is suddenly interrupted when a British Army officer and his guide ask Hussein to escort them on a treacherous journey. The young, mischievous Theeb secretly chases after the travellers, but they soon find themselves trapped amidst threatening terrain riddled with mercenaries, revolutionaries, and outcast raiders, forcing Theeb to live up to the name given to him by his father.
Theeb will enter a limited release on November 6.