AS I OPEN MY EYES
| 2016 – 102′ – Drama – A Franco-Tunisian-Belgium co-production
Co-Written and Directed by Leyla Bouzid.
Starring Baya Medhaffar, Ghalia Benali, Aymen Omrani.
Official Selection COLCOA 2016, Tribeca International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival.
In Arabic with english subtitles.
A Kino Lorber release.|
It’s the summer of 2010, the eve of the Arab Spring. Tunisia heaves under the ever-watchful regime of dictator Ben Ali; revolution is in the air. Exuberantly breathing in that air is Farah, a bright high school grad eager to explore the fresh possibilities of young adulthood. Her mother, Hayet (renowned singer Ghalia Benali), is pressuring her to go to medical school, but Farah has more intriguing offers. She’s the singer in an underground band, and dabbling in matters of love and sex with fellow musician, Bohrene. Farah’s fearless feminist stance and the band’s lyrics challenge the status quo, so when Hayet receives a warning from an old friend in the Interior Ministry, she is determined to make Farah understand the very real dangers of her growing political convictions. A bittersweet coming of age drama, not only for its impetuous protagonist, but also for Tunisia, a country coming of age after its own rebellious spree ended without the freedoms that many of its youthful protesters had hoped for.
