S, a young Tunisian soldier, is told that his mother has died, and given a week’s leave. But when the week’s up he doesn’t return to his base in the desert, instead locking himself away in his parents’ house. This passive form of desertion culminates in a manhunt through the outskirts of the city. In the second part of this hypnotic diptych, a young woman, F, is also fleeing an oppressive situation. She is married to a rich man and is pining away in solitude in his luxury villa. When she finds that she’s pregnant, she flees the golden cage and disappears into the nearby woods, where she comes across a now very wild S.

In his second feature, director Ala Eddine Slim presents an intriguing juxtaposition of raw realism with a hypnotic allegory of contemporary Tunisia, held together by an intense, grating soundtrack.

Director
Ala Eddine Slim
Countries of production
Tunisia, France
Year
2019
Festival Edition
IFFR 2020
Length
120'
Medium
DCP
Language
Arabic
Producers
Ali Hassouna, Juliette Lepoutre
Production Companies
Still Moving, Exit Productions
Sales
Be For Films
Screenplay
Ala Eddine Slim
Cinematography
Amine Messadi
Editor
Ala Eddine Slim
Production Design
Malek Gnaoui
Sound Design
Moncef Taleb
Music
Oiseaux-Tempête
Cast
Abdullah Miniawy, Souhir Ben Amara, Khaled Ben Aissa
Website
https://www.beforfilms.com/tlamess
Director
Ala Eddine Slim
Countries of production
Tunisia, France
Year
2019
Festival Edition
IFFR 2020
Length
120'
Medium
DCP
Language
Arabic
Producers
Ali Hassouna, Juliette Lepoutre
Production Companies
Still Moving, Exit Productions
Sales
Be For Films
Screenplay
Ala Eddine Slim
Cinematography
Amine Messadi
Editor
Ala Eddine Slim
Production Design
Malek Gnaoui
Sound Design
Moncef Taleb
Music
Oiseaux-Tempête
Cast
Abdullah Miniawy, Souhir Ben Amara, Khaled Ben Aissa
Website
https://www.beforfilms.com/tlamess