Production
January 29, 2024. Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call. A five-year old girl is trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab.
Three young men meet Djamel (Yassine Azzouz), a charismatic manipulator, who turns the three friends against society.
Between light and darkness stands Olfa, a Tunisian woman and the mother of four daughters. One day, her two older daughters disappear. To fill in their absence, the filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania invites professional actresses and invents a unique cinema experience that will lift the veil on Olfa and her daughters' life stories. An intimate journey of hope, rebellion, violence, transmission and sisterhood that will question the very foundations of our societies.
When Mariam, a young Tunisian woman, is raped by police officers after leaving a party, she is propelled into a harrowing night in which she must fight for her rights even though justice lies on the side of her tormentors.
To be able to travel to Europe and find the love of his life, Sam Ali, a Syrian refugee, accepts to have his back tattooed by one of the most sulfurous contemporary artist; becoming that way a precious work of art.
Extremism slices through a Tunisian family with the realization that their teenage son has become an ISIS fighter.
Ricky has a dream: to make Staff Benda Bilili the best band in Congo Kinshasa. Roger, a street child, more than ever wants to join these stars of the ghetto, who get around in customized tricycles. Together, they must avoid the pitfalls of the street, stay united and find the force to hope in music. For six years, from the first rehearsals to their triumph in international festivals, BENDA BILILI! (“beyond appearances”) is the story of this dream come reality.
Zeineb, Elyssa and Houssine, a trio unlikely to ever meet, see their fates cross paths on the night of January 14, the historic date when Ben Ali fled and the Tunisian revolution transformed the face of the nation. The individual lives of these three characters represent the frustrations, challenges, hopes and dreams of the entire country, with their tragic encounter proving to be one that will bind them together for life.
Aicha, a Tunisian mother gifted with prophetic dreams, lives in the isolated north of Tunisia with her husband Brahim and young son Adam. The family lives in anguish after the departure of the eldest sons Mehdi and Amine to the violent embrace of war. Months later, Mehdi unexpectedly returns home with a pregnant wife in tow. Mehdi's arrival triggers old wounds and a darkness that threatens to consume the entire village.
It's been few days since Phiona came back from Madrid, a metaphorical city where she was alienated from the outside world for three years. After a day-long friendly conversation with her snobbish cousin Yves takes a turn for the judgmental regarding the decisions that made Phiona go to Madrid in the first place, their friendship is put at odds.
Nora is a striking young girl in new love. We see her dancing around her bedroom, lip-synching, testing outfits, in between sending heart emojis, and more, to the special boy. All dressed up, she takes a short cut through an abandoned building, on the way for her hot date. Kevin pulls up in the background on his scooter. He's Nora's recent ex, jilted and jealous. Kevin grabs Nora's phone, and what ensues is a now universal 21st century story of male-female power, sexuality and shame with a biting, feminist twist.
It's a question that surprises most people: “Would you have sex with an Arab?” Film-maker Yolande Zauberman doesn't just ask anyone this question, she asks people in the clubs and bars and streets of Tel Aviv. 20% of Israelis are of Arab origin, but for some the question is still incomprehensible, for others long since reality and yet others a political issue. One thing it is never is immaterial. The film manages to break down the Middle East conflict into individuals and to show what enormous influence it has, even into the most intimate of spheres.
In exchange for a few watermelons he loves so much, an Imam organises emergency funerals. His ex-jihadist assistant suspects a conspiracy... A cutting and witty story.
On the cusp of his 50th birthday, Nacer Belkacem dreams of a better life. Yet, over the years, he has built himself an enviable position in the eyes of all: a loving family man, a happy husband, a model employee, and a respected citizen in his community. But the veneer is cracking. Beneath a seemingly perfect surface, Nacer has racked up expenses, made questionable investments, and is up to his neck in debt. On the brink of ruin, he devises a desperate plan to try to pull himself out of the water. You only have one life to earn your way to heaven...
Bouchra, raised in a mausoleum dedicated to the saint Sidi Sardi, is confronted by a hostile imam who wants to turn her family home into a mosque. Her life is turned upside down when she meets Ahmed, a cameraman willing to help her make a film about the saint. This project plunges her into a captivating investigation, a saga through Tunisia and the 20th Century, that will shake her deeply-rooted beliefs. An initiation to love, myths and cinema.
