A still from the film, courtesy of © Tanit Films, Midi La Nuit, Instinct Bleu
The feature debut by the Oscar-nominated Tunisian-Canadian filmmaker is a cinematic painting, an ode to her ‘Brotherhood’ stars who were not given a visa to travel to the Berlinale. An injustice that seemed to go unnoticed in the midst of all the festival drama.
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A still from ‘Brief History of a Family’ by Jianjie Lin
They include two projects ‘In Competition’, three in ‘Panorama’, one each in the ‘Encounters’ and ‘Generation’ sections.
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Mariam Al Ferjani in a still from Kaouther Ben Hania's 'Beauty and the Dogs'
Films featuring strong women are what I crave. But I won’t buy that typical Hollywood fare, which sells the perfect package of a buff heroine dressed in a shiny costume doing stunts as the perfect woman’s film. Nope. I need a real-life wonder woman to fulfill my cravings.
In Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s latest ‘Beauty and the Dogs’, which world premiered at the Festival de Cannes in their Un Certain Regard section, I found her.
Within the role of Mariam (played to absolute perfection by first-time actress Mariam Al Ferjani), your typical run of the mill modern university girl wanting to have fun on a night out at a club event we learn she helped to organize, I discovered a heroine that transcends the Arab world — Mariam’s story takes place in Tunisia — and jumped off the screen straight into my subconscious. And remained there, juggling with my thoughts, until now.
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