Aïcha

Life does not have much to offer Tunisian twenty-something Aya: she still lives with her parents and works in a hotel somewhere on the edge of a Sahara desert. There, she has a secret affair with the married manager who she knows, despite many promises, will never leave his wife. All changes when she is involved in a serious road accident in which she is the sole survivor. It is precisely this traumatic event that Aya seizes upon to change course and she leaves for Tunis, where she hopes to finally find freedom. Initially, that seems to happen, but soon life also there proves to be very complicated for a young woman.

In his second feature film, director Mehdi Barsaoui shows what it is like to live in a society where tradition and patriarchal views always prevail over the need to develop. Actress Fatma Sfarr portrays Aya, the woman who does not want to be obedient and subservient, as sober as poignant.