Netflix is still to produce its first entirely original show in the region, but there are plenty of viewing options with a local link for those who take the time to search.
Ironically, compared to the United States' site, there are significantly fewer Middle East-themed shows available to UAE subscribers, in part due to licensing issues with existing regional distributors, and because many are yet been scheduled for the region; this means that some classics such as the Oscar winner Omar and Sundance and Emmy award-winning Five Broken Cameras are unavailable to watch here. Nonetheless, if you're eager to keep things local, here's our pick of some of the best Middle East-related content on the platform.
Salam Neighbour
2016 film Salam Neighbour documents the experiences of American filmmakers Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple when they lived among 85,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan's huge Za'atari refugee camp, which lies just seven miles from the Syrian border. The filmmakers, who are believed to be the first allowed by the UN to register and set-up a tent inside a refugee camp, spent a month in Za'atari to cover what the UN Refugee Agency calls "the world's most pressing humanitarian crisis".
Sand Storm
This drama follows the day-to-day tribulations of a Bedouin family that is feeling the tension between conservative traditions and the rapidly evolving modern world. Daughter Layla is allowed to have a mobile phone and driving lessons, but a boyfriend is a step too far for father Suliman, who has an arranged marriage planned for her. Meanwhile, Layla’s mother Jalila is harbouring a simmering resentment for her husband’s newly arrived second wife. Essentially melodrama with a feminist undercurrent - don’t expect a happy ending. The film picked up the Grand Jury Prize at 2016’s Sundance Film Festival.
War Machine
David Michôd's Brad Pitt-starring, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah-shot Afghan War satire surely needs little introduction to regular readers. The cast and crew spent more than a month shooting here in late 2015, and made use of well over 2,000 locally-recruited extras. The film finally landed on Netflix in May, and if you haven't watched it yet, you should. Admittedly, there are no Furious 7-style lingering shots of Abu Dhabi's most famous landmarks, but there's plenty of dark humour and a depressingly accurate critique of quite how pointless and ill-judged the never-ending Afghan conflict appears to be.
Zinzana
The first UAE-produced movie to be picked up by Netflix, which is at least a start until it produces some of its own. Zinzana was directed by Image Nation Abu Dhabi stalwart Majid Al Ansari and starred another regular on the local movie scene, Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman, also of Lone Survivor and Homeland fame. The movie is a taut psychological thriller, carried by a magnificently wicked performance from Suleiman as the very last police officer you want to find yourself locked in a remote jail with.
Under the Shadow
Babak Anvari's Farsi language horror comes with UAE co-production credits, thanks to Dubai-based producer Lucan Toh and his London/Dubai-based Wigwam Films. Set in war-torn Tehran and filmed in Jordan, Under the Shadow was the British entry for this year's foreign language Oscar, and is nothing if not culturally diverse. It's also a great watch with genuine scares, as Narges Rashidi's Shideh is tormented by a djinn that has arrived in her flat via an unexploded missile that's poking through her roof. The film, along with Zinzana (above) and Ali F Mostafa's more recent The Worthy, is also seemingly part of a canon of work that demonstrates, perhaps surprisingly, this part of the world is becoming an efficient hub for the production of genre movies.
The White Helmets
Orlando von Einsiedel’s film about the work of Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, a group of ordinary Syrian civilian volunteers who dedicate their lives to rescuing victims of the ongoing civil war in the country. The Netflix original won Netflix its first Oscar, for Best Short Documentary, though the win had a bittersweet taste as Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khatib, himself a White Helmet, was refused entry to the US to attend the ceremony. Undeterred though, Khatib said in a statement issued by White Helmets founder Raed Saleh: “I am absolutely delighted that we won an Oscar – it shows that people care about us and the people we serve. This award is for all the volunteers of the White Helmets and all people around the world who are working for peace.”
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
How Sputnik V works
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
RACE CARD
4pm Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m
5.10pm Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m
The%20specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%204cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E261hp%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E400Nm%20at%201%2C750-4%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10.5L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C999%20(VX%20Luxury)%3B%20from%20Dh149%2C999%20(VX%20Black%20Gold)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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Profile of VoucherSkout
Date of launch: November 2016
Founder: David Tobias
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers
Sector: Technology
Size: 18 employees
Stage: Embarking on a Series A round to raise $5 million in the first quarter of 2019 with a 20 per cent stake
Investors: Seed round was self-funded with “millions of dollars”
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
