Linda & Ali: Two Worlds Within Four Walls

Mixed marriages bring additional challenges, particularly in the modern world between Arab men and American women. Such a union is the subject of Lut Vandekeybus' surprisingly cheerful documentary Linda & Ali—filmed over several years—which offers a close-up look at the family life of Ali Saigal, a Qatari businessman, and his wife Linda. The pair have been married for 20 years, the last 15 of which they've lived in Qatar, where Linda has adopted the practices of Shiite women, including the code of dress and attitudes of social separatism between women and men (the couple also have seven children, whom they struggle to raise in accordance with Muslim cultural norms). Basically a portrait of a loving and supportive family, the film occasionally focuses on areas of difference between husband and wife by showing episodes in which they argue over expectations concerning each other or their sons and daughters. But while Linda & Ali deftly weaves together themes of familial solidarity with hints of an underlying cultural clash, the spotlighted couple is hardly an extreme example of the divisions such marriages can create. Qatar, after all, is a comparatively progressive society, and while Linda tells us she was raised Catholic, she converted to Islam in her teens, and she and Ali met while both were college students in America. Nevertheless, this is an engaging look at a family whose lives fall outside the experience of most Americans. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)