Discoveries from Tunisia World Cinema

Barely relieved from a serious depression and against the advice of his psychiatrist, Slah, theater director, mentally weakened by his career, announces to his wife Amel, a rich woman who finances his projects, his decision to mount the famous play Essoud (The Dam) of Mahmoud Messadi renowned for its complexity. But the same evening, driving his car, Slah overthrows a young woman named Aisha. At first distraught, he then experiences a strange fascination for this beautiful young girl contrarian who becomes his friend and his muse. Amel, her husband's moral, emotional and financial support, convinced the director of the theater to program Le Barrage. Although suffering in silence of the presence of Aisha, Amel decides for love for her husband to invite the young woman near them, in the field of her parents, in an oasis of the south of Tunisia. A strange three-way household is formed when doubts and suspicions, desires and temptations, love and complexities are revealed.

In a conformist society, Ahmed and Salma, marry for convenience to pursue their passions with secret lovers. "Conditional Desire" delves into identity, love, and authenticity amid societal constraints.

A story of the existential escape of two opposed people, introduced to each other by fate at the mercy of wanderings.

The last Station is a personal experience of Exile, Return and the Dream of a Homeland. This journey between the Dream and the Reality contains lots of happiness, hope and yet disappointments.

The film shows daily life in the city of Meknasy through the social and economic situation of people and the dreams of children.

Bizerte, winter of 1991. The first Gulf War is brewing amid international tension. A Tunisian writer entrusts the typing of an autobiographical manuscript to a young girl, Chama, who is looking for work. Inspired by the book's content, young Chama feels the need to delve deeper into the events of the Bizerte War, especially since her father, a patriotic volunteer, lost his life there.

A young bride living in the popular district of Mallasine Hammam-Lif receives a call from her husband, an illegal immigrant in Italy, informing her that he will send her a money order by post. The young woman begins to live her new rich life while her neighbors change their behavior towards her and start treating her like a queen. Good fortune begins to show its face to the bride but will things stay that way or will her happiness be turned upside down?

A tender but brash short film about the feeling of living in two worlds at once. Meriem, the child of Tunisian-French parentage, shuttles back and forth between Paris and Tunis, and between two men. It takes a long time for her to decide where she belongs.

There are around twenty thousand cafés in Tunisia, but barely ten movie theaters. In the past, we Arabs missed out on the printing revolution. I wonder if today we are missing out on the image revolution. This political fiction attempts to respond, even through utopia, to the hope inspired by this new Tunisia in the making.

Fired from work, a 40-year-old man struggles with his narcissism until he finds a solution.

In the midst of a socio-economic crisis, we follow the process of young Tunisian artists trying to organize alternative events in unusual locations and discover the underground scene and to be part of the simulation.

Path to Sovereignty

A portrait of the Director’s maternal grandmother, Eliane, a French woman who lived her entire life in Tunisia. The film shows her last moments at home with her family before her passing due to Alzheimer's disease.

can time gives away , even the most pure and passionate emotions..? A young man , lives a one of a lifetime intimate story , and since , he starts carrying a world view that may prove the opposite .

Following the arrival of the New Year, Slimane's wife, Zeineb, suggests spending New Year's Eve in a hotel. Meanwhile, his mother Douja, desperate to have her date canceled, makes a plan with Slimane's mother, Fadhila, to leave with them. The couple then meets for this evening with their mothers, as well as Sboui, his wife Azza and his children. Sboui, Slimane's brother, continues to do stupid things at the hotel which makes the stay unpleasant for the couple. Remaining in Tunis, Fouchika finds himself alone with Béji. He had planned this evening with his friend Sboui but finds himself with his former boss because he is having marital problems. However, Béji receives a phone call from his wife and reconciles with her. Shortly after, Béji leaves to join his wife at her in-laws, leaving Fouchika alone.

In 1954, two young intellectuals, the ethnologist François and Ibrahim the lawyer, return to Tunisia after their studies in Paris. Brahim is engaged in the national independence movement. He is charged by the party to find his brother Beda, the resistants' leader, and to convince him to lay down his arms, a prerequisite for peaceful negotiations.

Three farmers decide to leave their village, where the spring has dried up, and move to the city. Salem, the youngest, rebels because he cannot find work. A young woman plays the role of conscience to the villagers who remain in front of their televisions watching the modern world, without changing their situation. Their difficult search for work raises the issues of unemployment, rural exodus, and emigration.

Souad falls in love with Fawzi, a poor young man whose mother works as a seamstress. Her wealthy neighbor, Mustafa, also loves her. Her father marries her off to Mustafa against her will in exchange for lifting the mortgage on his land. Mustafa learns about her love for Fawzi, who had left the country. Suad gives birth to a son and a daughter. Fawzi returns after 25 years, and Suad is diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Refusing to leave his place of work, a projectionist finds himself facing a crowd that threatens to destroy the cinema hall.

Between 1983 and 1987, Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso and the home city of FESPACO, one of the most important Pan-African film festivals in the world, was the scene of an exciting cinema utopia. With the support of the young president Thomas Sankara, the festival became a symbol of the cultural renaissance of a whole continent. The assassination of Sankara stifled the hopes of millions of young Africans, but the dynamism of FESPACO and African cinema did not stop.

In the heart of the Gaza Strip, four men navigate through divergent paths in pursuit of their definitions of existence, intertwining their fates amidst the complexities of life, love, and survival.

The film follows the journey of Alex, an Ultras member, in his hometown Sfax, Tunisia, while visually representing his inner thoughts, feelings, frustrations and ideas to showcase the impact and influence of the Ultras movement on the city's urban scene and culture.

Since football left the stadiums and took root in people's minds, it has become a problem. It is an even more terrible social phenomenon when it comes to the Tunisian Cup final. For Mustapha, Hassan, Hédi, and Rached, the event begins on Saturday evening. What matters tomorrow is the victory of the favorite team. On Sunday, the city is celebrating. In the stands, the crowd is in a trance. On the field, the result does not satisfy the desires of our four supporters. It's a disaster. Fights and injuries. Violence and bitterness. Each of the four supporters must nevertheless return home and face their families. For Mustapha, there is no question. His case is clear. He won the sports promotion. Nothing else matters.

In Tunis lives Aya, a smart little girl, with her Salafist parents. But one day a special event disrupts the life of this family.

An Odyssey (2001–2004), inspired by Abdelaziz Belkhodja’s novel, The Ashes of Carthage, and considered Tunisia’s first film in the thriller genre, offers a critical perspective on transnational trafficking in art and cultural objects. The events revolve around smuggling antiquities and artifacts in Tunisia, where an international gang seeks to steal the statue of the famous commander Hannibal and smuggle it via the Carthage ship to a European country.

Alaa is a 30-year-old doctor. In his clinic one day, he is visited by Mahdy, an old friend who needs help with a strange phenomenon afflicting him: mint is sprouting from his body. Alaa and Mahdy are without shelter. The scent of mint attracts danger, which chases them through their deteriorating city. They are led through a series of disturbing encounters with former companions. Those who were once bonded by devotion are now estranged, faithless, and reeking of mint. Will the two friends find a way out of this nightmare, constantly chased by memories of loss? Or will they be left to dry, waiting and hiding in the streets where they once lived peacefully?

A person who suffers from the indifference and domination of those around him...

Eya and Sofia, two sisters under the age of twelve, run away from their mother's house to play in the forest near her home. They get lost there, and experience scary adventures and poetic moments.

Film adapted from the original work of Ali Douagi "Le réverbère". In this atmosphere of current political chaos, the lamppost is a fictional film telling the story of Tunisia from independence to today and emphasizing the political heritage.

Yacine, a young painter, lives in fear of assuming his difference and facing the world and his overly imposing sister, but the circumstances and insistence of Karim, his long-time lover, will lead him to confess his true nature.

Fadwa, a rebellious girl, runs away from the parental home to hide in a funny disused factory. Her father ends up finding her and wants to take her home. But once face to face, the father and his daughter realize that nothing is going right.

In a corrupt world, a journalist named Khalil is drawn into a struggle against the system, and his values are tested as never before.

A young peasant girl who knows nothing about life becomes pregnant.

Ghassra, an Arab taxi driver faces difficulties answering nature’s call. He wants to relieve himself by a tree, but is challenged by the election candidate, the soccer fan, the extremist and the policeman.

Three officers sent by the Bey, arrives to a farming village to collect taxes. The villagers initiate the payoff sharing their goods but the bey's messengers persist in humiliating them, infringing their dignity and honor, which triggered contestations.

The work deals with the story of a man who remains silent all the time and is the main driver of events, as everyone seeks to discover his secrets, and at this desire meet eight different personalities who all agree on curiosity.

Hsan, an unemployed man in his fifties, has been looking for work for quite some time, but without success. On his wife's insistence, he decides to go and see Ammar, a local politician, to ask for help. Ammar agrees to find him a job under one condition: that he paints his house purple - the color of the ruling party, adding a splash of color amid the uncertaim of the Tunisian Revolution.

What happens if a beloved person disappears, leaving you no choice other than radicalism or the blind faith in a stranger.

A forty-year-old writer lives alone, only her cat holds her company. The solitude made her indifferent to the importance for her life. One day, she learns that one of her manuscripts is going to be published, at the very moment when she thought about abandoning everything; writing and maybe even life. However, she messes it up, the news of the publication arrives too late.

A historical documentary tracing 130 years of Tunisia's Alawite school, its role in education, modernization, and shaping generations of citizens.

This fable tells of an old fishmonger who dies and resuscitates several times. The man is a despicable character and his resurrections gives rise to general curiosity. But superstition soon takes over in the villagers’ hearts, they believe nature should reclaim its rights.

Over three periods of her life, a grandmother keeps repeating to her grandson the same apparently trivial story.

The road, the house, the key, the animals, Bamssi. Images with the urgency of an Instagram story create a dialogue within the family across the sea: Mourad and Fairuz, Tunisia and abroad. You have to go to the roof to see something of the surroundings: the railway behind the house. Away from the house, away from home. Street dogs and cats in front of the house. Without a house, without a home. The sound of the train carries a disturbing longing. The image of the sea opens up a dangerous desire. To stay. To dream. Time passes both slowly and quickly when the possibility of new life disrupts the routine.

A grounded child must pass his school test or he will be punished by his father forever

The sole pleasure of Ala, a literature professor and poetry lover, is to share drunkenness with poets. «The Epistle of Mercy», a work about Heaven and Hell, written nearly a thousand years ago, is the subject of the day. In his inebriation, the waitress and bar owner become characters from this work.

In an imaginary and fantastic world approaching the setting of Paradise, we witness the unfolding of the trial of Adam and Eve following the theft of an apple. Within the court, comedy takes its place by adopting current ambiguities in the context mentioned. And finally, the verdict is delivered to the surprise of the accused

‘Tunisia. A word I have trouble articulating, when I want to tell it to my son.’ Dhia, a 29-year-old filmmaker, left Tunisia after having taken part in the Revolution. Exiled to France, he’s worried about transmitting his stuttering to Elia, his two year old son. In his pursuit to overcome this challenge, Dhia embarks on a journey of hypnosis and speech therapy sessions. Yet, as these sessions unfold, it is evident that the issue isn’t managing a fluent speech so much as figuring how to talk to Elia about Tunisia, his home country.

The film emerged from a 1976 play by the same ensemble. It explores the tragicomic lives of newlyweds from the petit-bourgeoisie, capturing their shattered existence with a blend of theatre and cinema. The Nouveau Théâtre members navigate a surreal landscape, suspended between nightmare and reality, with a hyper-presence of bodies accentuated by unchanging lighting.

An early documentary by Tunisian film pioneer Albert Samama Chikly who lovingly documented Tunisian culture, and filmed over Tunis from a balloon in 1907.

Chorea tells the story of struggle and invites the audience throughout its unique surreal narrative to reflect on the pursuit of self and identity in a society where such concerns are often considered auxiliary.

The heritage of Carthaginian women still survives in Tunisian traditions.

Flying over miles for several days, a seagull lands in a village whose name it does not know and from which emerges a musical tune. The author of this melody is AWA. For her, music has become a way to soften her pain and no longer see the harsh reality facing her village: pollution and the proliferation of jellyfish that have caused the disappearance of turtles and more specifically Soulaafet, her best friend.

In a village courtyard turned courtroom, a camel is tried for attacking a farmhand, exposing the village's hidden tensions and blurred notions of justice.

Major figure in African fashion, Oumou Sy's designs have been showcased and appreciated in Africa and the West. Talented as a stylist, this dynamic artist is a household name in African Haute Couture and masterminded the set costumes of many African contemporary and period pieces, including films by Cheik Oumar Sissoko and 'Hyena' by Djibril Diop Mambéty.

Through a fusion of animation and real images, queer individuals from the Maghreb share their stories, from their homeland to various parts of the rest of the world. These individuals have fiercely broken societal taboos around gender and sexuality, defying social, legal and familial pressures, even among those who have chosen to break away from their families.