After informing on her Islamist brother, Samia (Sarra Hannachi) seeks refuge by illegally immigrating to France just after Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution. With no friends, no family, and no papers, Samia adapts to life in a foreign land. She meets a young man, Imed (Salim Kechiouche); finds work as an assistant to the elegant but mysterious Leila (Hiam Abbass); and is quickly enmeshed in a web of sexual tension. A timely narrative, Foreign Body transcends the media’s typical reductive narratives of forced migration and desperation through close, handheld camera work and offers insights into the story of a young woman. Samia’s story is sometimes ragged and sometimes refined, and Hannachi’s portrayal ranges from stoic to sensual: she is a woman determined to survive at any cost.
Sponsors
TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL
Mizna presents the thirteenth Twin Cities Arab Film Festival in partnership with the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul. The Arab Film Fest showcases modern Arab cinema, featuring debut screenings of independent narrative, documentary, and experimental features and shorts.