''Arab Blues'' (french: Un divan à Tunis, lit=A couch in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

) is a 2019 French-Tunisian

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Manele Labidi Labbé in her feature debut. It was screened in the

Venice Days The Giornate degli Autori or simply the Giornate, formerly also known in English as Venice Days, is an independent film festival section held in parallel to and in association with the Venice Film Festival. It is modeled on the Directors' Fortnight ...

section at the

2019 Venice Film Festival The 76th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2019. Film director Lucrecia Martel was appointed as the President of the Jury. ''The Truth'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, was selected to open the fest ...

and then in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

. The film is about a Tunisian

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

Selma who, after having been educated in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, moves back to Tunisia to open a psychoanalytic practice.

Cast

Golshifteh Farahani Rahavard Farahani ( fa, رهاورد فراهانی; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (), is an Iranian-French actress. She is known for her performances in ''M for Mother'' (2006), '' Body of Lies'' (2008), ''Abo ...

as Selma *

Hichem Yacoubi Hichem Yacoubi (born April 4, 1964 in Tunis, Tunisia) is a Tunisian-born French actor who had a role in the film ''A Prophet'' (in French ''Un prophète'') (2009) directed by Jacques Audiard. He studied theater (including a course at the Actors ...

as Raouf * Moncef Anjegui as Mourad *

Majd Mastoura Majd Mastoura is a Tunisian film actor and translator. At the 66th Berlin International Film Festival he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for his role in the film '' Hedi''. Early life and career Majd Mastoura was born in Menzel Abderrahman ...

as Naim

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

76th Venice International Film Festival The 76th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2019. Film director Lucrecia Martel was appointed as the President of the Jury. ''The Truth'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, was selected to open the fest ...

, during the

, on 4 September 2019. Its North American debut was in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

on 8 September 2019.

Reception

Box office

''Arab Blues'' grossed $3.7 million worldwide, against a production budget of about $2.4 million.

Critical response

On French

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

AlloCiné, the film holds an average rating of 3.7 out of 5, based on 24 critics' reviews.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arab Blues 2019 films 2019 comedy films 2019 directorial debut films French comedy films 2010s Arabic-language films 2010s French-language films Films about psychoanalysis Films set in Tunisia Tunisian comedy films 2019 multilingual films French multilingual films Tunisian multilingual films 2010s French films