From the creator of Caramel, this is a genuinely charming and inventive film which takes its audience through a spectrum of emotions. The story is thus: In an isolated village, a close-knit group of friends of Muslim and Christian women gather daily at the local cafe to share gossip and song. However, their community comes under threat from outside tensions. How do they stop their husbands and sons tearing their lives apart with a sectarian war?

Banding together, the women devise ingenious plans to distract their menfolk. The narrative is really funny, the characters utterly believable and the use of song is superb. The musical number about getting the men stoned is fantastic. What’s more, the light tone of the majority of the movie gives all the more weight to the moments of heartbreak which punctuate proceedings like a bullet.In the same way that the wonderful Life Is Beautiful did with the Holocaust, this film gives heart to a difficult subject-matter through laughter and levity. This certainly doesn’t make it any less relevant than more heavyweight movies. Rather, Where Do We Go Now?is a compelling and touching tale of motherhood, family, religion, tolerance and community.Review by Bobby Townsend