''Aïcha'' is a 2024 drama film written and directed by

Mehdi Barsaoui Mehdi M. Barsaoui (born 23 May 1984), is a Tunisian filmmaker. He is best known as the director of the critically acclaimed feature film A Son (2019) and shorts ''Sideways'' (2010) and ''Bobby'' (2014). Personal life He was born on 23 May 1984 i ...

. A co-production between Tunisia, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the film premiered at the 81st edition of the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

Plot

Aya Dhaoui (Fatma Sfarr) leads a life of relative servitude in the Southern Tunisian region of Tozeur. Working as a cleaner in a resort hotel, she is expected to hand over all of her wages to her mother and father. But after a freak accident she has a chance to change all of that by assuming a new identity. But freedom in her new life in constrained by the problems of her lack of identity.

Cast

* Fatma Sfar as Aya Dhaoui * Nidhal Saadi as Farès * Yasmine Dimassi as Lobna * Badis Galaoui as Nouri

Production

The film was produced by Cinetelefilms and Dolce Vita Films, with 13 Prods, Dorje Films, Sunnyland Films and Cinemawaves Films serving as co-producers. It is loosely based on real events.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

81st Venice International Film Festival The 81st annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2024, at Venice Lido in Italy. French actress Isabelle Huppert served as Jury President for the main competition. Italian actress an ...

in the

Orizzonti ''Orizzonti'' ( 'Horizons') is a section of the Venice Film Festival's official selection. It runs as a parallel section to the main competition for the Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Fe ...

sidebar. It was later screened at the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...

. It was released in French cinemas on 19 March 2025.

Reception

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

s film critic Fionnuala Halligan praised the performance of Fatma Sfar, and wrote that "undoubtedly set for success in Middle-Eastern markets, where it will court a younger audience with similar dreams of liberation, it may be too blunt for arthouse markets elsewhere". Connor Lightbody from ''Next Best Picture'' described the film as "an exciting character study that shows how women, even in death, are the currency of men and government, no matter their supposed freedom".

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2024 films 2020s Arabic-language films 2024 drama films Tunisian drama films French drama films Italian drama films Saudi Arabian drama films Qatari drama films