ARAB BLUES

Manele Labidi

france tunisia 2019 88 min

After spending years in Paris Selma returns to her native Tunis to open a psychoanalysis practice in a working-class neighbourhood. In the aftermath of the Tunisian Revolution she hopes to help people navigate a society undergoing profound change. But her plans quickly encounter obstacles: some residents misunderstand her profession while bureaucratic complications threaten her ability to practise. As she begins treating the neighbourhood’s residents Selma gradually becomes an unexpected source of support in a community struggling with its changing identity.

• About the film

  Original title Un divan à Tunis

  Directed by Manele Labidi

  Screenplay Manele Labidi

  Cast Golshifteh Farahani Majd Mastoura Hichem Yacoubi Fériel Chammari Aïcha Ben Miled Najoua Zouhair Jamel Sassi Ramla Ayari

  Music Flemming Nordkrog

  Cinematography Laurent Brunet

  Editing Yorgos Lamprinos

  Production Companies Kazak Productions Arte France Cinéma

• Festivals & Awards

  Giornate degli Autori — Venice Film Festival
  2019 | Official Selection — World Premiere
  BNL People's Choice Award

  Toronto International Film Festival — TIFF
  2019 | Contemporary World Cinema

  BFI London Film Festival
  2019 | Laugh

  Busan International Film Festival
  2019 | World Cinema

  France Odéon — Florence
  2019 | Long Feature Film Selection

  Tübingen–Stuttgart International French-Language Film Festival
  2019 | International Competition

  IFI French Film Festival — Dublin
  2019 | Official Selection

  German-French Film Week
  2019 | Les Avant-premières

  Palm Springs International Film Festival
  2020 | New Voices / New Visions

  Miami Film Festival
  2020 | Knight Marimbas Award Competition

  Odessa International Film Festival
  2020 | International Competition

  Sofia International Film Festival
  2020 | Francophonie 50

  Febiofest — Prague
  2020 | Girls in Film

  Oh Là Là! — French Comedy Film Festival, Israel
  2020 | Official Selection

  French Film Festival UK
  2020 | Discovery

  Zurich Film Festival
  2021 | New World View: Tunisia

  Alliance Française French Film Festival — Australia
  2021 | Around the World

  French Film Festival of Argentina
  2023 | Feature Film Selection

  César Awards
  2021 | Nomination — Best First Film