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Brillante Mendoza has made a career out of highlighting the “dark corners” of the Philippines, and “Alpha” is no exception to the rule. His style, however, is much different here, as the film winks at the mainstream, despite the fact that the documentary-like tactics are still here. Let us take things from the beginning, though.

“Alpha: The Right to Kill” is screening at Helsinki Cine Aasia 2019

The story revolves around two radically different individuals, with the Philippines Government’s crackdown on illegal drugs functioning as the background. The first one is Police Officer Espino, a respectable professional, family man and Christian, and Elijah, a small-time pusher who has become his informant, in a desperate effort to provide for his wife and newborn child. During a police raid to the hideout of a notorious drug dealer named Abel that results in a number of deaths on the criminal’s side and very few arrests,...

The Cairo Film Festival, for its 40th edition, is reinventing itself.

With Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy at the helm who, at 43, is its youngest president, the oldest fest in the Arab and African worlds is undergoing a radical revamp in a major effort to get its mojo back after a decade of decline due to the country’s post-revolution turbulence.

Hefzy, who is known internationally for the steady stream of edgy top notch titles birthed by his Film Clinic shingle — most recently Cannes standout “Yomeddine,” which is Egypt’s current candidate for the foreign-language Oscar — is the first Cairo fest chief chosen from within the country’s film industry ranks. Since being appointed in March he has been working incessantly in tandem with respected critic and academic Youssef Sherif Rizkalla, who remains the fest’s artistic director.

Eight months later, the signs of renewal are visible. Starting from a reconfiguration...

The Middle East premiere of U.S. director Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” will open the revamped Cairo Film Festival, where Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” is also set to launch in the region and Ralph Fiennes will be feted with a career award.

Cairo’s upcoming 40th edition, which will run Nov. 20-29, bears the stamp of a big push by its new president, Egyptian producer Mohammed Hefzy, to give the oldest film fest in the region new luster following a period of decline partly due to the country’s post-revolution turbulence.

Hefzy and artistic director Youssef Cheriff Rizkallah have unveiled a large lineup mixing recent standout titles plucked from the international circuit with a rich assortment of fresh Arabic fare.

Kazakh writer-director Sergey Dvortsevoy and actress Samal Yeslyamova will be coming to Cairo for a gala screening of drama “Ayka,” which competed in Cannes; Argentine director will be making...