Not many debuting directors are able to bring subtlety and depth to a heart-rending subject, which is just one reason why Mehdi M. Barsaoui’s superb “A Son” deserves significant attention. On the surface, the plot sounds like it could be taken from a hospital TV drama: When a young boy needs a liver transplant, his father discovers he’s not the biological parent. Such a bare-bones description does the film no justice, as Barsaoui’s sensitive script delves into issues of masculinity and paternity without losing sight of the strong female character and her double trauma as she faces the potential loss of both child and husband. Shrewdly weaving politics throughout the film while keeping outward statements in the background, “A Son” is grounded in the recent Tunisian past but will easily transcend cultural differences and should be grabbed for international art-house distribution.
The first five minutes or so...
The first five minutes or so...
- 9/7/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
It begins in a prison cell with a despondent Djo (Joumene Limam) scribbling words on paper as Zina (Nour Hajri) implores her to stand so they may leave. Salvation comes in the form of a lawyer (Afef Ben Mahmoud’s Nadia) and doctor (Fatma Ben Saïdane’s Dora) desperate to figure out what has happened and how they were able to return to Tunisia. Details about this question only start to come into focus as Nouri Bouzid’s The Scarecrows progresses with the explanation that the two women were held captive in Syria by Islamist extremists—sex slaves for the soldiers who raped and impregnated them before removing their children. From one prison to another, their homecoming is met by civil animosity declaring them “damaged goods” and terrorists themselves.
Bouzid says that making this film was his opportunity to shed light upon those victims who’ve been walled off and erased from telling their stories.
Bouzid says that making this film was his opportunity to shed light upon those victims who’ve been walled off and erased from telling their stories.
- 8/30/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
"I wish we'd met in better circumstances." Oscilloscope Labs has debuted an official Us trailer for a highly acclaimed film titled Beauty and the Dogs, which premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews from critics. Made by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, the film is presented as a number of various long take shots, without many cuts in total. Beauty and the Dogs tells the story of a young Tunisian woman who is raped by police officers on her way home from a party, and looks back at the events of the evening. Newcomer Mariam Al Ferjani stars, with a cast including Ghanem Zrelli, Noomen Hamda, and Mohamed Akkari. The film is a very bold, raw, unapologetic look at the abhorrent culture of victim-shaming, conservative morality, and male hypocrisy prevalent in society today (and specifically in Tunisia). I heard so many friends raving about this film at Cannes,...
- 2/15/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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