Most auteur directors pursue a political agenda in many if not all of their films, and so do some commercial films. If some themes stand out, the salience of major themes varies across different countries, inviting an examination of their specific political and cultural contexts. Films critical of political regimes can be found in every major cinema of the region, in some countries their critiques have been remarkably forceful in spite of repression. Some of these critiques have been surprisingly explicit, others have had to remain quite subtle. Regime critiques in Syria, Iran, Egypt, and very recently Morocco are of particular interest. Films problematizing the position of women have been produced in most countries for a long time; they are prominent in Iran, where they constitute a response to the clerical regime, and in Tunisia, where they arise from the heritage of the emancipatory legislation of the 1950s. Some entail regime critique as they decry legislation and policies discriminating against women. Most critique patriarchal traditions that are upheld, or indeed resuscitated, by certain religious teachings. The Middle East is the heartland of Islam, but only in a few instances do films exalt religion, most notably in Iran. More commonly filmmakers have denounced Islamic fundamentalists, most notably in Afghanistan, Algeria, and Egypt, countries where conflict led to violence. Central to most of these denunciations has been a rejection of patriarchal teachings. Outright colonialism has been the focus of major films where there was a protracted armed struggle, in Libya with Lion of the Desert, and in Algeria where the government of the newly independent country began producing films in the 1960s, most of them devoted to the War of Liberation. Surprisingly few films from the region have addressed Western imperialism since the days when nationalist films denouncing British interference were common in formally independent countries such as Egypt and Iraq. However, in recent years, films critical of the United States have found a ready audience in Egypt. Some of these films implicate the regime’s support for American/Israeli policies. Palestine is the pan-Arab theme par excellence. A substantial number of films have been devoted to the Palestinian cause across the Arab world as well as in Iran and Israel. Kurds, like Palestinians, are in search of their country. Their plight, and their aspirations, have inspired a number of films by directors in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, most of them of Kurdish descent.