14/08/2024 - The new film by Mehdi M Barsaoui, the director of A Son, follows a young woman who seizes her chance to start a new life, but everything is soon compromised

Aya, in her late twenties, still lives with her parents in southern Tunisia and feels trapped in a life without prospects. One day, the minivan in which she commutes daily between her town and the hotel where she works crashes. As the sole survivor of the accident, she realises it could be her chance to start a new life. She flees to Tunis under a new identity, but everything is soon compromised when she becomes the main witness to a police blunder.

This is the synopsis of Aïcha [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the second feature by Tunisian director Mehdi M Barsaoui, which is having its world premiere in the Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival, taking place from 28 August to 7 September.

The Tunisian director's first feature, the multi award-winning A Son [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehdi M Barsaoui and Sami B…
film profile], also premiered in Venice's Orizzonti section, where it won the Best Actor award for lead actor Sami Bouajila, who subsequently received the 2021 César and Lumière awards for Best Actor.

The film stars Fatma Sfar, Nidhal Saadi, Yasmine Dimassi and Hela Ayed, and has been produced by Habib Attia for Tunisia's Cinétéléfilms and Marc Irmer for France's Dolce Vita Films, with co-production by Flaminio Zadra for Italy's Dorje Film, Chantal Fischer for France's 13 Productions, Antoine Khalife and Faisal Baltyuor. International sales are handled by French company The Party Film Sales.

Check out our exclusive poster and clips below: