Through evocative imagery and simmering emotion, director Meryam Joobeur crafts a mesmerising story of fractured relationships and vengeful violence. Focusing on the repercussions of two sons abandoning their rural home to engage in war, her feature debut increasingly becomes more visceral. Starting as a refined drama about a broken Tunisian family, the narrative becomes a complex meditation on attachment and motherhood, all encompassed by a remarkable female lead.
The gruelling burden of a broken family is felt from the very first minutes we see Aïcha (Salha Nasraoui), who aches for the safe return of her sons. Telling close-ups of her dispirited expression mark a deep internal struggle, Joobeur focusing on a motherly love which brims on obsession and outweighs the worry of the other family members. Brahim (Mohamed Hassine Grayaa), burying his conflicting emotions in farm work, can't begin to fathom what will happen if his older sons return, especially after.
The gruelling burden of a broken family is felt from the very first minutes we see Aïcha (Salha Nasraoui), who aches for the safe return of her sons. Telling close-ups of her dispirited expression mark a deep internal struggle, Joobeur focusing on a motherly love which brims on obsession and outweighs the worry of the other family members. Brahim (Mohamed Hassine Grayaa), burying his conflicting emotions in farm work, can't begin to fathom what will happen if his older sons return, especially after.
- 2/23/2024
- by Sergiu Inizian
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Aïcha (Salha Nasraoui) and her husband Brahim (Mohamed Hassine Grayaa) live on a farm in northern Tunisia. It’s a modern rural environment of goats, trucks, home cooking and tight-knit families. In Meryam Joobeur’s feature-length debut “Who Do I Belong To,” an early sequence of Aïcha shaving Brahim’s face — an act of intimacy and trust — introduces a key part of the director’s aesthetic strategy: Dp Vincent Gonneville’s frequent use of extreme close-ups on the actors’ faces. At times, the camera hovers so close that they almost stop looking like faces at all; there’s a landscape quality to facial features observed from this kind of intense proximity. In the shaving scene, Grayaa’s cheeks, lathered with shaving foam, call to mind mountains buried under drifts of snow.
You might expect from this introduction that Brahim, this monumental patriarch, will play a bigger part in the subsequently unfolding events,...
You might expect from this introduction that Brahim, this monumental patriarch, will play a bigger part in the subsequently unfolding events,...
- 2/22/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
Memento International has boarded “Arenas,” Camille Perton’s feature debut set in the world of professional soccer, starring Édgar Ramírez (“Carlos”), Iliès Kadri (“Nobody’s Hero”), Sofian Khammes (“November”) and Lorenzo Zurzolo (“Eo”).
Now in post-production, the film shot across Lyon, Monaco, Nice and Baku in Azerbaijan. Memento International will kick off sales at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase in Paris next week.
The film follows Brahim, a rising soccer star who is about to sign his first contract at his prestigious hometown club. But when a mysterious and powerful agent disrupts the negotiations, Brahim discovers the shady side of the business. Torn between loyalty and money, he will engage in a race against time to claim his destiny.
“Arenas” is produced by Eve Robin and Judith Lou Lévy for Les Films du Bal, the ambitious independent company behind Mati Diop’s Cannes prizewinner “Atlantics,” “Ahed’s Knee” by Nadav Lapid and the...
Now in post-production, the film shot across Lyon, Monaco, Nice and Baku in Azerbaijan. Memento International will kick off sales at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase in Paris next week.
The film follows Brahim, a rising soccer star who is about to sign his first contract at his prestigious hometown club. But when a mysterious and powerful agent disrupts the negotiations, Brahim discovers the shady side of the business. Torn between loyalty and money, he will engage in a race against time to claim his destiny.
“Arenas” is produced by Eve Robin and Judith Lou Lévy for Les Films du Bal, the ambitious independent company behind Mati Diop’s Cannes prizewinner “Atlantics,” “Ahed’s Knee” by Nadav Lapid and the...
- 1/8/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
New Delhi, June 14 (Ians) Brahim Diaz is back in the Spanish capital and set for a second chance to establish himself as a regular for Real Madrid.
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder, who first joined the 34-time Laliga champions from Manchester City in 2019, has spent the last three seasons on loan in Italian football with AC Milan in search of minutes and invaluable experience.
He has gained plaudits for his performances in Italy, playing 124 matches in all competitions and scoring 18 goals for the Rossoneri. He won the Serie A title last season, becoming only the third player ever to win Laliga, Serie A and the Premier League after Cristiano Ronaldo y Danilo, and this year he reached the Champions League semi-finals.
He now returns to the Santiago Bernabeu and will likely slot into the now departed Marco Asensio’s role in the team. Brahim is a very creative player, and can...
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder, who first joined the 34-time Laliga champions from Manchester City in 2019, has spent the last three seasons on loan in Italian football with AC Milan in search of minutes and invaluable experience.
He has gained plaudits for his performances in Italy, playing 124 matches in all competitions and scoring 18 goals for the Rossoneri. He won the Serie A title last season, becoming only the third player ever to win Laliga, Serie A and the Premier League after Cristiano Ronaldo y Danilo, and this year he reached the Champions League semi-finals.
He now returns to the Santiago Bernabeu and will likely slot into the now departed Marco Asensio’s role in the team. Brahim is a very creative player, and can...
- 6/14/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
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