AÏCHA
Genre
Social Drama
Running time
123 minutes
Year
2024
Language
Arabic
Subtitle
English
Country
Tunisia, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Qatar
Director
Mehdi M. Barsaoui
Bio
Producer
Habib Attia, Marc Irmer
Cast
Fatma Sfar, Nidhal Saadi, Yasmine Dimassi, Hela Ayed
Scriptwriter
Mehdi M. Barsaoui
SHOWTIME
Mon
09.
Dec
Culture Square - Cinema 1
9:30 PM - 11:38 PM
Price: 40 SAR
Tue
10.
Dec
Culture Square - Cinema 4
2:00 PM - 4:08 PM
Price: 40 SAR
Aya is the sole survivor of a bus crash on a mountain road. When she realises that nobody knows she is alive, she makes a snap decision to escape her dead-end village existence and become someone else. In thriving, liberal Tunis, she calls herself Amira, a thrilling change until one of those men is murdered and the investigating police start to question “Amira”’s sketchy life story. Fatma Sfar is vivid and immediately sympathetic as Aya/Amira, while narrative twists and nested details gradually reveal that she isn’t the only trickster with something to hide. Aicha was judged Best Mediterranean Film from the Academy of Fine Arts at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Other movies
MY WAY
Director: Thierry Teston
Many people are unaware that the iconic song My Way, most famously recorded by Frank Sinatra but covered by everyone from Pavarotti to Sid Vicious and Robbie Williams, was based on the melody of a French tune. In 1967, composer Jacques Revaux and singer Claude Francois wrote Comme D'habitute while sitting by Francois’ swimming pool. Not long after that, it made its way to the United States, where Paul Anka wrote the words that Frank Sinatra would make famous; since then, it has crossed eras, borders and generations. In commemoration of 50 years of My Way, the directors assemble archival footage, interview musicians and unearth new anecdotes to piece together the tune's history, with the song personified by Jane Fonda's narration.
SOMEBODY
Director: Yeo-Jung Kim
This exceptional psychological thriller from South Korea poses dark questions about the complex relationship between mothers and daughters. Swimming instructor Young-eun (Kwak Sun-young) is disturbed and embarrassed by the increasingly violent behaviour of her seven-year-old daughter So-hyun. When Young-eun realises that she cannot change her daughter's disposition she decides to take matters into her own hands with bloody results. Co-directors Kim Yeo-Jung and Lee Jung-chan show a mastery of suspense in these eerie scenes before they produce their biggest shock when the action jumps forward two decades and new characters emerge. Min (K-Pop superstar Kwon Yu-ri) and Hae-yeong (Lee Sul) are flatmates with their own devastating psychological family traumas, and dark secrets being to emerge keeping the audience guessing to the end.
MY FRIEND AN DELIE
Director: Zijian Dong
This remarkable adaptation of Shuang Xuetao’s novel is the debut film from actor-turned-director Dong Zijian that flashes back and forth in time to tell a touching story of friendship and family strife. Following his father’s death, Limo (Liu Haoran) is flying back to his hometown in northeastern China, when he spots his childhood friend An Delie (played by director Zijian) (Dong) on the plane, who fails to recognise him. When their flight is diverted because of heavy snow, the duo go on a journey that brings back long-forgotten memories in which Limo has to deal with the demons from his past. Beautifully photographed by Pema Tsedan across two time periods, the film shows the long-term emotional impact of the traumas of our childhood.
