The Cheetah (1972)

Based on a novel by renowned Syrian author Haidar Haidar, Nabil Maleh's first full-length feature is set in Syria in the early 1900s. it is the suspense-filled story of Al Fahd (Adib Qaddoura), an ordinary peasant who becomes a lone rebel, fighting bravely against the colonial government that has usurped his land and subjects him to imprisonment, torture and insult at the hands of the gendarmes. But he declines the help that might have enabled him to overthrow the oppressors for good. The Leopard won first prize at the Locarno Film Festival in 1972 and in 2005 was selected by the Pusan International Film Festival as one of the greatest masterpieces in Asian cinema history.