In Andrew Kamel and Jaafar Al-Nabi’s undying love for Arab cinema and the spaghetti western, Death Rides a Camel was born. Jokingly, Kamel and Al-Nabi assert that the idea for the film was begotten from “two boys, a camel and a dream.” Watching the film, one finds that this is not a joke. Made on a shoestring budget — really some coins and linen from these two Quranic cowboys’ pockets — Death Rides a Camel defies financial constraints by galvanizing Arab and non-Arab persons and settings alike (largely, untrained actors and on-location shooting) into a whirlwind of falafel western fantasy. From bellydancers in saloons to Saudi assassins driving anachronistic picture cars, the film is a love letter to Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, an aesthetic nod to classic Arab period pieces such as Al-Mummia (The Night of Counting the Years), and a half-begrudging wink at Western stereotypes of the Middle East. In Orientalizing the spaghetti western, Death Rides a Camel takes Italian appropriation of American cowboy movies one step further — or perhaps several steps East — and depicts a classic tale of vengeance and retribution. Shot on beautiful 16mm, one is exposed to the harsh desert climate (of California), a charismatic dromedary (from a ranch just north of Los Angeles), and grisly anti-heroes and villains (played by various friends and acquaintances of Kamel and al-Nabi). Soundtracking nearly the entire film is none other than the legendary and iconoclastic Salim Halali, a mid-century French-Algerian cabaret singer who croons in Arabic in the Andalusian style and perfectly mixes falafel with western. A sequel? Well on its way…

Directed by Andrew Kamel and Jaafar al-Nabi (USA)