Under the Fig Trees 2022
Among the trees, young women and men working the summer harvest develop new feelings, flirt, try to understand each other, find – and flee – deeper connections.
Among the trees, young women and men working the summer harvest develop new feelings, flirt, try to understand each other, find – and flee – deeper connections.
Hailing from Mohammedia, Tunisia, the film documents twelve years in the life of Mehrez. A gifted dancer and actor, but also irresistibly addicted to gambling and horse races, he struggles on a daily basis with himself and the bewildering contradictions of his country. In his unstoppable quest for truthful emotions, Mehrez defies all rules.
‘Tunisia. A word I have trouble articulating, when I want to tell it to my son.’ Dhia, a 29-year-old filmmaker, left Tunisia after having taken part in the Revolution. Exiled to France, he’s worried about transmitting his stuttering to Elia, his two year old son. In his pursuit to overcome this challenge, Dhia embarks on a journey of hypnosis and speech therapy sessions. Yet, as these sessions unfold, it is evident that the issue isn’t managing a fluent speech so much as figuring how to talk to Elia about Tunisia, his home country.
Two women share a house that hides an Evangelical church. Upon taking in a child migrant who survived a shipwreck, each member of this makeshift family must reconsider their place in the house and in society.