I really enjoyed this beautiful, romantic film with its cultural diversity of the two main subjects and I am happy it was was chosen for VIFF 2021

Directed and written by the young Leyla Bouzid “Barely I open my Eyes”  it is extremely well done!  The 2 main lovers who are both lesser known actors are outstanding in this film.

      Ahmed, a bright yet introverted young student, from the Paris Muslim projects, secures a spot at the elite university La Sorbonne to study Comparative Literature. At his first class he finds himself extremely attracted to Farah, an outgoing, fun loving, young woman from Tunisia who has been sent by her wealthier parents to study literature at La Sorbonne.

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     Their course requires studying ancient Arab Poetry which has a history of quite bold eroticism for its time. This forms the basis of how they go about growing their relationship which is awkward because of their different cultural values, personalities and upbringing.

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     Ahmed cannot even speak or read  Arabic, as his father escaping Algeria, has brought him up this way, to integrate into French society. Yet he is influenced more by  his peers who live in the projects and follow traditional Arab values.

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    Ironically it is his father who was a journalist and studied the same poetry,  prior to escaping from Algiers, who transforms Ahmed. 

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I would recommend this film for its unique approach to an often misunderstood view of cultural differences, based on where and how one is brought up