Under the Fig Trees preceded by Les Chenilles
Friday, September 29 at 6:45pm | The Main Cinema
About Under the Fig Trees
Dir. Erige Sehiri | 2021 | Tunisia | Arabic with English subtitles | 92 min
On a hot summer day, a crew of workers arrive at dawn at a picturesque fig orchard in northwestern Tunisia. The film allows viewers to eavesdrop on their conversations among the sun-dappled leaves of the fig trees, and young women find idle moments outside the watchful gaze of their foreman. The workers joke, argue, debate, gossip, flirt, all the while painting an unhurried but riveting portrait of everyday life in rural society, where issues of class and gender as well as economic and political circumstances often don't allow for such personal freedoms. Set over the course of a single day, and with a cast made up of an intergenerational ensemble of non-professional actors, Under the Fig Trees reveals the ways in which sisterhood becomes an act of resistance.
Director’s Bio
Erige Sehiri is a French-Tunisian director and producer. With her own production company, Henia Production, she develops Tunisian, author-driven documentaries, which have gained acclaim at Visions du réel, IDFA, and Cinemed. In 2018, her breakout feature documentary Railway Men remained for six weeks in Tunisian theaters. In 2021, she wrote, directed and produced her first fiction feature, Under the Fig Trees, which won several post-production awards at the Venice International Film Festival (Final Cut in Venice). She then joined the selection of the 54th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at Cannes 2022.
About Les Chenilles
Dir. Michelle Keserwany and Noel Keserwany | 2022 | France, Lebanon | Arabic with English subtitles | 29 min
Asma and Sarah meet while working as waitresses in France. They both come from the Levant and carry the shadows of their pasts, each in their own way. Finding a common ground that traces back to the time when the city of Lyon was connected to their homeland via the Silk Road, they form a tentative friendship. The film explores exploitation– then and now –as well as female solidarity, friendship, and solace.
Directors' Bio
Michelle Keserwany and Noel Keserwany are Lebanese musicians, writers, and filmmakers. The sisters are known for their satirical music videos that criticize the Lebanese corrupt political system. Ever since Michelle co-wrote Capernaum with director Nadine Labaki (Academy Award nominee, winner of the Prix du Jury in Cannes 2018 and Best Script Award at Stockholm IFF), they started their own film projects, including the political documentary Slow Burn, a co-production between France and Lebanon, produced by Special Touch Studios and supported by the CNC. Between 2019 and 2021, they both received grants from the French Institute to reside at La Cite des Arts in Paris and work on their film projects. They live between Beirut and Paris. Les Chenilles is the sisters' debut short fiction film and was awarded the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 2023 Berlinale.
Presented by Mizna
Mizna is a critical platform for contemporary literature, film, art, and cultural production centering the work of Arab and Southwest Asian and North African artists. For more than twenty years, we have been creating a decolonized cultural space to reflect the expansiveness of our community and to foster exchange, examine ideas, and engage audiences in meaningful art.