Amir Soltani is covering the Berlin International Film Festival for The Film Experience this year, our first time at Berlinale!. For his first dispatch, he’s reviewed Tunisia’s Hedi
Although Hedi (Inhebbek Hedi) is Mohamed Ben Attia’s first feature film, it comes with the pedigree of being co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, and it’s not difficult to see why they were drawn to this story. Hedi (Majd Mastoura), a 25-year-old, Tunisian car salesman, would fit neatly into the gritty, realist universes of the brothers’ working class protagonists. A slow-burn study of an unhappy young man on the verge of getting married, Hedi builds up to an intensely emotional, rewarding finale that is once personal and political.
Under the overbearing, towering influence of the family’s matriarch, Hedi is the second of two sons whose father has passed away. Whereas the elder son has moved to France and...
Although Hedi (Inhebbek Hedi) is Mohamed Ben Attia’s first feature film, it comes with the pedigree of being co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, and it’s not difficult to see why they were drawn to this story. Hedi (Majd Mastoura), a 25-year-old, Tunisian car salesman, would fit neatly into the gritty, realist universes of the brothers’ working class protagonists. A slow-burn study of an unhappy young man on the verge of getting married, Hedi builds up to an intensely emotional, rewarding finale that is once personal and political.
Under the overbearing, towering influence of the family’s matriarch, Hedi is the second of two sons whose father has passed away. Whereas the elder son has moved to France and...
- 2/13/2016
- by Amir S.
- FilmExperience
In today's Berlinale 2016 Diary entry, we offer first impressions of three Competition titles: Mohamed Ben Attia's Hedi, a love story set in post-Arab Spring Tunisia with Majd Mastoura, Rym Ben Messaoud and Sabah Bouzouita, Jeff Nichols's Midnight Special, a science fiction adventure with Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Jaeden Lieberher, Sam Shepard, Bill Camp and Scott Haze, and Denis Côté's Boris without Béatrice with James Hyndman, Simone-Élise Girard, Denis Lavant, Isolda Dychauk and Dounia Sichov. » - David Hudson...
- 2/12/2016
- Keyframe
In today's Berlinale 2016 Diary entry, we offer first impressions of three Competition titles: Mohamed Ben Attia's Hedi, a love story set in post-Arab Spring Tunisia with Majd Mastoura, Rym Ben Messaoud and Sabah Bouzouita, Jeff Nichols's Midnight Special, a science fiction adventure with Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Jaeden Lieberher, Sam Shepard, Bill Camp and Scott Haze, and Denis Côté's Boris without Béatrice with James Hyndman, Simone-Élise Girard, Denis Lavant, Isolda Dychauk and Dounia Sichov. » - David Hudson...
- 2/12/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
The protagonist and namesake of Mohamed Ben Attia’s Hedi certainly isn’t cinema’s first leading man to seek validation from a more free-spirited woman, and it’s awfully unlikely that he’ll be the last. Indeed, the Tunisian filmmaker’s debut effort (which opened the Berlinale competition proper this evening) seems to want not just for western cinematic formula but also some of the western world ideology, too. It’s about two-parts romance, one-part Tunisian national mood piece. It concerns a love affair between an extroverted tour guide and a beta male who has found himself lost in a head-melting job and on the cusp of an arranged marriage. The country’s recent uprising seems to linger in his thoughts. It’s out with the old and in with the new, perhaps.
Incidentally, as Variety reported earlier today, Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne rescued the film from production hell,...
Incidentally, as Variety reported earlier today, Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne rescued the film from production hell,...
- 2/12/2016
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.