Film Details

A fabulous, exotic world of leisure and luxury is captured in this visually stunning, largely wordless new documentary by Italian artist Yuri Ancarani. Ancarani trains his widescreen camera on a group of wealthy young Arab men who converge in the Qatari desert for a weekend of r&r. The young sheikhs’ activities include racing SUV’s across sand dunes and a falconry competition. Among their lavish accoutrements are birds that can cost $24,000 apiece, custom-built sports cars, gold Harleys, private planes, and even a pet cheetah. “Images in The Challenge…seem to belong less to a nonfiction film than to a hallucination.” –A.O. Scott, NY Times. “Undeniably striking…An objet d’art that will wow…Deserves to be seen on the big screen.” –Variety. Arabic with subtitles. DCP. 67 min.