AÏCHA
Genre
Social Drama
Running time
123 minutes
Year
2024
Language
Arabic
Subtitle
English and Arabic
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
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
THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN
Director: Olivier Assayas
Olivier Assayas plunges the viewer into the final years of the Soviet Union and the start of the Russian Federation with confidence and precision in this political thriller which premiered at this year's Venice Film Festival. Paul Dano leads a tightly-calibrated cast as the fictional Vadim Baranov, a theater director-turned-TV executive, spin doctor and Kremlin kingmaker to Vladimir Putin (played by Jude Law, continuing his recent career resurgence) as the Russian premier makes his unstoppable rise to power. Calibrated performances guide the viewer through a period of time which sets the scene for where Russia is today. Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge and Jeffrey Wright co-star in this ink-black comedy based on the 2022 novel of the same name. "This film contains scenes that may be considered sensitive for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised"
LATE SHIFT
Director: Petra Volpe
Petra Volpe’s salute to caregivers is executed with strength and admiration. Led by a nuanced and meticulous performance from Leonie Benesch, Late Shift is an eloquent plea for compassion, as well as being a gripping story about a day in the life of a hospital worker. Floria (Benesch) is a nurse on an understaffed surgical ward, where she balances the constant demands of her patients — medical and emotional — knowing that every decision she makes (or neglects) could have fatal consequences. Floria, and Volpe’s camera, are constantly on the move to beeping monitors and crash carts in the ward’s confined quarters. As Switzerland’s Oscar submission, Late Shift delivers high drama and a sharp question: who will care for the carers?