Movies have a funny way of finding us when we need them most, don't they? Just when the world feels like it's spinning off its axis, along comes a film like Leila and the Wolves, a buried treasure from 1984 that's been dusted off, polished up, and set to light up screens across North America starting March 14, 2025, at BAM in Brooklyn. The trailer dropped this week, alongside a striking poster, and let me tell you—it's got that rare magic that makes you sit up and say, “Wait, how have I not seen this before?” Directed by Heiny Srour, a Lebanese visionary who broke barriers as the first Arab woman to grace Cannes with her 1974 gem The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived, this newly restored epic is more than a film. It's a time machine, a protest song, and a love letter to the unsung women who've shaped history. Buckle up, cinephiles—this one's personal.
Let's start with the basics. Leila and the Wolves isn't your typical narrative flick. It's a hybrid—part fiction, part documentary, with a dash of surrealist spice that feels like Fellini wandered into a Beirut back alley and decided to rewrite history. The trailer teases a journey through time, following a young Lebanese woman (Nabila Zeitouni) in 1980s London who's suddenly unstuck, drifting through the 20th century to witness Arab women fighting, loving, and surviving amid anti-colonial struggles in Palestine and Lebanon. Archival footage blends with staged scenes so seamlessly you'd swear Srour invented a new genre. The cinematography by Charley Recors and Curtis Clark glows with a gritty beauty, while Eva Houdova's editing keeps the rhythm taut yet dreamlike. It's ambitious as hell, and it works.
Heiny Srour isn't just a filmmaker; she's a storyteller with a mission. Born in Beirut in 1945, she studied sociology and anthropology before picking up a camera, and you can feel that intellectual fire in every frame. Her debut, The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived, took her to Oman's Dhofar Rebellion, dodging British bombs to capture a revolution in real time. That grit carried over to Leila, which took seven years to shoot under what I can only imagine were insane conditions. The result? A film that premiered at Venice in '84 and left critics gobsmacked—MUBI calls it “monumental,” The Guardian dubs it a “feminist masterwork.” And now, thanks to Several Futures and a crisp CNC restoration, it's finally hitting the U.S., paired with Hour for a double dose of Srour's genius at BAM.
What's the film about, though? At its heart, it's a reclamation. Srour digs into the collective memory of Arab women—mothers, daughters, fighters—who've been sidelined by history's male gaze. The trailer flashes scenes of defiance: women smuggling arms in wedding invitations, facing down barricades, mourning in cemeteries while bullets sing overhead. There's a haunting use of traditional songs like “Dalouna,” tying past to present, myth to reality. Srour herself calls it a “bridge of peace,” and in a world still wrestling with the same old power games, that feels less like a platitude and more like a plea.
The buzz isn't just about the film's overdue arrivalstateside—it's about Srour showing up in person. Flying in from Paris for BAM's opening weekend, she's ready to meet her “American public” after four decades. Imagine that: a trailblazer who's spent her life amplifying the voiceless, finally getting her flowers. And the rollout doesn't stop in NYC. Dallas, Cleveland, Toronto, Vancouver—they're all on deck through May. This isn't just a screening; it's a movement.
Conclusion
Leila and the Wolves isn't here to comfort you—it's here to wake you up. Watching that trailer, I couldn't help but think of all the stories we've lost to time, all the voices drowned out by louder ones. Srour's film, and this restoration, feels like a defiant act of memory, a reminder that cinema can do more than entertain—it can bear witness. As the lights dim at BAM on March 14, with Srour in the house, I hope audiences feel that weight. Because if movies like this can still shake us after 40 years, maybe there's hope for us yet.
Personal Impressions:
I'll admit, I hadn't heard of Leila and the Wolves until this restoration news hit, and that stings a little. How does a film this bold, this beautifully made, slip through the cracks for so long? The trailer alone—those sweeping shots, that raw emotion—had me hooked. Srour's got a poet's eye and a rebel's heart, and it's thrilling to see her work finally get its due. That said, I wonder if today's audiences, spoiled by quick cuts and CGI, will sit still for its deliberate pace. I hope so. It's not flawless—the surreal bits might throw some folks—but it's honest, and that's rare. Seeing it paired with The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived feels like a gift, a chance to rediscover a filmmaker who's been screaming truths we're only now ready to hear.
What do you think—can a 40-year-old film like Leila and the Wolves still spark a revolution in how we see women's roles in history? Drop your thoughts below!
