Theeb

Showing on Sunday, October 26, 6.15pm, Emirates Palace and Tuesday, October 28, 4pm, Vox 2.

A scene from Naji Abu Nawar’s Theeb, screening at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Film Festival

All hail, the Falafel Western! In the first 10 minutes, Theeb ticks every box in the Bedouin hospitality handbook. Calligraphy — check; camels — check; oud, Arabian coffee, campfire — aiwa, aiwa and aiwa. But when the film moves out into the desert, surprising things start happening. Our hero, a young boy, sneaks away from his camp to follow his brother, who is guiding an English soldier (the film is set during World War I) through the Hejaz mountains to the railway. Director Naji Abu Nowar's film is so good, it demands I not spoil anything, but it's enough to say, the boy is soon forced to grow up really fast. Theeb, which won a Horzions prize for "new trends in the expressive language" at Venice and played at the Toronto International Film Festival, captures the grit and beauty of the desert and uses Bedouin singing to great effect. Sergio Leone would be impressed. *Craig Courtice

• Sunday, October 26, 6.15pm, Emirates Palace; Tuesday, October 28, 4pm, Vox 2