Tunisian Film Festival: Freedom, Equality, Sisterhood
Female directors and strong female leads are—perhaps surprisingly—at the very heart of Tunisian film. In collaboration with International Media Support, the Danish Film Institute in Copenhagen is showing a series of Tunisian films with strong female protagonists in front and behind the camera.
Throughout October, the series Freedom, Equality, Sisterhood showcases a selection of documentaries from the country’s proud film history as well as recent films from contemporary Tunisia. The series includes also short films by filmmakers from the Danish Film School and their Tunisian peers.
Tunisia has over the past many years churned out numerous prominent voices in independent, creative filmmaking and explored a wide array of taboos: the ghost of colonization; sexual liberalism versus conservatism; secularisation versus religion. The films fall predominantly in the art house category with highly personal stories that seek to provoke and stir up debate.
Freedom, Equality, Sisterhood opens on 14 October with the opening film Millefeuille and runs throughout October.
The opening film Millefeuille by acclaimed Tunisian director Nouri Bouzid is the poignant tale of two young Tunisian women striving to achieve the same level of emancipation enjoyed by the male population of their country as the old political order is toppled during the country’s revolution in 2011. Surrounded by the turmoil of the revolution, Zaineb and Aisha are inspired to change the course of their own lives. In a staunchly male-dominated society, though, that is easier said than done. Film description courtesy of the Canadian Film Institute.
