Through evocative imagery and simmering emotion, director Meryam Joobeur crafts a mesmerising story of fractured relationships and vengeful violence. Focusing on the repercussions of two sons abandoning their rural home to engage in war, her feature debut increasingly becomes more visceral. Starting as a refined drama about a broken Tunisian family, the narrative becomes a complex meditation on attachment and motherhood, all encompassed by a remarkable female lead.
The gruelling burden of a broken family is felt from the very first minutes we see Aïcha (Salha Nasraoui), who aches for the safe return of her sons. Telling close-ups of her dispirited expression mark a deep internal struggle, Joobeur focusing on a motherly love which brims on obsession and outweighs the worry of the other family members. Brahim (Mohamed Hassine Grayaa), burying his conflicting emotions in farm work, can't begin to fathom what will happen if his older sons return, especially after.
The gruelling burden of a broken family is felt from the very first minutes we see Aïcha (Salha Nasraoui), who aches for the safe return of her sons. Telling close-ups of her dispirited expression mark a deep internal struggle, Joobeur focusing on a motherly love which brims on obsession and outweighs the worry of the other family members. Brahim (Mohamed Hassine Grayaa), burying his conflicting emotions in farm work, can't begin to fathom what will happen if his older sons return, especially after.
- 2/23/2024
- by Sergiu Inizian
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Aïcha (Salha Nasraoui) and her husband Brahim (Mohamed Hassine Grayaa) live on a farm in northern Tunisia. It’s a modern rural environment of goats, trucks, home cooking and tight-knit families. In Meryam Joobeur’s feature-length debut “Who Do I Belong To,” an early sequence of Aïcha shaving Brahim’s face — an act of intimacy and trust — introduces a key part of the director’s aesthetic strategy: Dp Vincent Gonneville’s frequent use of extreme close-ups on the actors’ faces. At times, the camera hovers so close that they almost stop looking like faces at all; there’s a landscape quality to facial features observed from this kind of intense proximity. In the shaving scene, Grayaa’s cheeks, lathered with shaving foam, call to mind mountains buried under drifts of snow.
You might expect from this introduction that Brahim, this monumental patriarch, will play a bigger part in the subsequently unfolding events,...
You might expect from this introduction that Brahim, this monumental patriarch, will play a bigger part in the subsequently unfolding events,...
- 2/22/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
Meryam Joobeur’s Who Do I Belong To (Mé el Aïn) offers a timely perspective on war in the Middle East as her Arabic language Isis drama about a family in turmoil premieres in competition at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival.
The Canadian-Tunisian director deftly threads the themes of conflict, family and identity in a fantastical drama that centers on Aicha, a Tunisian mother played by Salha Nasraoui and greatly relieved to see her eldest son Mehdi (Malek Mechergui) unexpectedly return from fighting for the Islamic State in Syria.
But Aicha must deal with her husband Brahim (Mohamed Hassine Grayaa) feeling anger over their son’s betrayal for leaving their rural farm in Tunisia to embrace a violent war and return without his brother Amine and with a mysterious pregnant wife at his side. Soon, the presence of Mehdi and his niqab-clad wife casts a dark shadow that threatens to consume a tiny Tunisian village.
The Canadian-Tunisian director deftly threads the themes of conflict, family and identity in a fantastical drama that centers on Aicha, a Tunisian mother played by Salha Nasraoui and greatly relieved to see her eldest son Mehdi (Malek Mechergui) unexpectedly return from fighting for the Islamic State in Syria.
But Aicha must deal with her husband Brahim (Mohamed Hassine Grayaa) feeling anger over their son’s betrayal for leaving their rural farm in Tunisia to embrace a violent war and return without his brother Amine and with a mysterious pregnant wife at his side. Soon, the presence of Mehdi and his niqab-clad wife casts a dark shadow that threatens to consume a tiny Tunisian village.
- 2/15/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition and its sidebar Encounters competitive section.
A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...
A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...
- 1/22/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
"Haunting and deeply disturbing." Yellow Veil Pictures has revealed an official US trailer for an indie crime thriller titled Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation from Tunisia, made by filmmaker Youssef Chebbi. The film premiered at last year's Cannes Directors' Fortnight, with stops at the Toronto Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, and Beyond Fest. The story begins when the body of a caretaker is found in the middle of a construction site in the gardens of Carthage, a new district where modern buildings are juxtaposed with abandoned sites. Set amongst derelict, half-finished apartment complexes of a former regime, the discovery of a mysterious body reveals a puzzling repetition of events. As the investigation progresses, a network of violence & corruption is uncovered throughout the city. Starring Fatma Oussaifi, Mohamed Houcine Grayaa, and Aymen Ben Hmida. Don't write off this international thriller, it looks like it has some very unsettling mysteries to compel viewers.
- 8/13/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
A selection at Cannes Director’s Fortnight, Toronto International Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, and Beyond Fest, Youssef Chebbi’s supernatural noir Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation is coming to theaters next week. Courtesy of Yellow Veil Pictures, the film will open at NYC’s Roxy Cinemas and LA’s American Cinematheque Los Feliz & Lumiere Music Hall before arriving digitally on August 22. Ahead of the release, the new trailer and poster have now arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “Set amongst derelict, half-finished apartment complexes of a former regime, the discovery of a mysterious burnt body by two police officers reveals a puzzling repetition of events. As the investigation progresses, a network of violence and corruption is uncovered throughout the city.”
Starring Fatma Oussaifi, Mohamed Houcine Grayaa, and Aymen Ben Hmida, see the trailer below.
Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation opens on August 18 in theaters and arrives digitally on August 22.
The post...
Here’s the synopsis: “Set amongst derelict, half-finished apartment complexes of a former regime, the discovery of a mysterious burnt body by two police officers reveals a puzzling repetition of events. As the investigation progresses, a network of violence and corruption is uncovered throughout the city.”
Starring Fatma Oussaifi, Mohamed Houcine Grayaa, and Aymen Ben Hmida, see the trailer below.
Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation opens on August 18 in theaters and arrives digitally on August 22.
The post...
- 8/8/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Ashkal,” following its screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. The murder mystery is the second feature from Tunisian director Youssef Chebbi and had its world premiere earlier this year at Cannes as part of the Directors’ Fortnight section. Yellow Veil Pictures plans to release the film theatrically in 2023.
“Ashkal” is set amongst derelict, half-finished apartment complexes of a former regime, where a mysterious burnt body is discovered by two police officers. The corpse reveals a puzzling repetition of events. As the investigation progresses, a network of violence and corruption is uncovered throughout the city. Fatma Oussaifi and Mohamed Houcine Grayaa star in the picture.
“In ‘Ashkal,’ Youssef Chebbi creates images that stick in your mind long after the credits roll, creating an unforgettable, unshakeable cinematic experience,” Joe Yanick, co-founder of Yellow Veil Pictures, said in a statement. “It’s...
“Ashkal” is set amongst derelict, half-finished apartment complexes of a former regime, where a mysterious burnt body is discovered by two police officers. The corpse reveals a puzzling repetition of events. As the investigation progresses, a network of violence and corruption is uncovered throughout the city. Fatma Oussaifi and Mohamed Houcine Grayaa star in the picture.
“In ‘Ashkal,’ Youssef Chebbi creates images that stick in your mind long after the credits roll, creating an unforgettable, unshakeable cinematic experience,” Joe Yanick, co-founder of Yellow Veil Pictures, said in a statement. “It’s...
- 9/12/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
At the Golden Globes, “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho challenged audiences by saying, “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” That obstacle may exist in most of the feature categories (where only “Parasite” and Pedro Almódovar’s “Pain & Glory” managed to clear the hurdle), but when it comes to shorts, the Academy doesn’t have quite the same hang-ups about whom to nominate. Sadly, that open-mindedness doesn’t seem to translate to voting. Just three foreign-language entries have earned the prize in the last decade, which should make voting in your Oscar pool relatively easy: It’s not the best, but “The Neighbors’ Window” is the only 2020 contender filmed in English. Now, , and easy to access via ShortsTV, which topped its own box office record with this latest batch.
Director Delphine Girard’s “A Sister” is driven largely by dialogue,...
Director Delphine Girard’s “A Sister” is driven largely by dialogue,...
- 2/7/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
According to the odds in our predictions center, “Brotherhood” seems to be the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s Oscar for Best Live Action Short. These odds are derived from the forecasts that are being made by our Expert film journalists, Gold Derby Editors, Top 24 Users (our top Oscar predictors from last year) and the thousands of Gold Derby readers who participate in our predictions center.
But is “Brotherhood” really that out front for Sunday’s ceremony? Could one of the other nominees pull off an upset? Let’s examine all five of this year’s nominees, in order by their current Gold Derby odds.
SEEOscars Upsets: 24 Potential Surprise Winners To Watch For
“Brotherhood” (odds of winning: 17/5)
Mohamed, who lives in rural Tunisia with his wife and two of his sons, becomes very suspicious when his oldest son, Malek, unexpectedly returns home from Syria. The fact that Malek has returned with a new wife,...
But is “Brotherhood” really that out front for Sunday’s ceremony? Could one of the other nominees pull off an upset? Let’s examine all five of this year’s nominees, in order by their current Gold Derby odds.
SEEOscars Upsets: 24 Potential Surprise Winners To Watch For
“Brotherhood” (odds of winning: 17/5)
Mohamed, who lives in rural Tunisia with his wife and two of his sons, becomes very suspicious when his oldest son, Malek, unexpectedly returns home from Syria. The fact that Malek has returned with a new wife,...
- 2/7/2020
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
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