Directed by Abdella Zarok.
Anthology film portraying the stories from the collection Sleepless Nights by Ali Douagi.
Mamluk is an unassuming, handsome young peasant who happens to have come along just in time to save the king from a fatal trap, and as a reward, the king offers him the amount of land he can mark off by walking around in one day but he must return to the starting point before sunset.
Since childhood, Qays and Layla have been in love. Qays, being a poet, publicly sings of his love, crying it out joyously far and wide - just the sort of public proclamation which was strictly condemned at the time. Distraught yet fearless, Qays stubbornly proclaims with all the more vigor his love for Layla, who remains entrapped by her own clan.
An 18 year old on the island Djerba, Aicha, is married to Said, who works in Tunis for much of the year. Aicha breaks with tradition and decides to join Said in Tunis, weaving rugs to make money. Said asks that she give him a son, so Aicha lives under the rule of her mother-in-law.
Following the arrival of the New Year, Slimane's wife, Zeineb, suggests spending New Year's Eve in a hotel. Meanwhile, his mother Douja, desperate to have her date canceled, makes a plan with Slimane's mother, Fadhila, to leave with them. The couple then meets for this evening with their mothers, as well as Sboui, his wife Azza and his children. Sboui, Slimane's brother, continues to do stupid things at the hotel which makes the stay unpleasant for the couple. Remaining in Tunis, Fouchika finds himself alone with Béji. He had planned this evening with his friend Sboui but finds himself with his former boss because he is having marital problems. However, Béji receives a phone call from his wife and reconciles with her. Shortly after, Béji leaves to join his wife at her in-laws, leaving Fouchika alone.
Rich in environmental mood and ethnic color, this human drama chronicles the lives and rituals of a nomadic Berber tribe in the southern Tunisian desert, especially focusing on a son about to inherit the full mantle of leadership. When he sees that their sheep are threatened with a possibly devastating illness, the precarious nature of the group's existence is brought home to him and he leaves to gain a livelihood and knowledge in the city. Once he gets back, bringing money and presents, it first appears that the group will be assured of a better future because of his enterprising outreach. Yet military and governmental officials arrive on the scene to take a census and the young man is conscripted, against his will.
Three farmers decide to leave their village, where the spring has dried up, and move to the city. Salem, the youngest, rebels because he cannot find work. A young woman plays the role of conscience to the villagers who remain in front of their televisions watching the modern world, without changing their situation. Their difficult search for work raises the issues of unemployment, rural exodus, and emigration.
A determined young woman in a remote Tunisian city bucks tradition by studying for an academic degree, instead of accepting the time-honored, submissive role of her sex as a wife and housekeeper for some 'mustached man'.
Story of a teenage girl whose father dies. She goes to live with her father's friends, a couple. As a sort of revenge on her Father, whom she hates for abandoning her and her mother, she seduces Murray Head, ruining his life. From destroying his and his wife's lives, her own life is reborn.
In Tunis, Fethi, a pretty face like Brando, and his friend Bannour, naive and shy, are employed in the pastry shop of the Italian Madame Rita. Their only concern is picking up Souad and her cousin Latifa in their convertible to take them for a ride "on the Wave side".
In the ensuing days before his wedding bridegroom Hachemi faces both the anxieties of the future and the shadows of the past. His best friend, Farfat, is the topic of street graffiti and local gossip, which calls his manhood into question. This ripples out to affect Hachemi for, unbeknownst to anyone, as apprenticed youths they were molested by Ameur, the local carpenter. Farfat is banished from his father's home and the shared secret between the two friends threatens to undo more than just the wedding, but their very lives.
Around 1980, in Tunisia, Si Béchir, an old craftsman, sold his house and left the medina of Tunis with his family to settle in a new city on the outskirts of the capital. With his son Ali and his niece Aziza, the old man discovers a new way of life in a Tunisia in full change. Aziza becomes friends with Aïcha, a young actress, while Ali continues to fail in his little businesses. The arrival of a sheikh from the Persian Gulf will fuel all the desires in the city, including those of Ali. But the dream is short-lived.
A community of people rejected by society live in an abandoned residence located in a "Medina": an old town in Tunisia. Al Bab, a local criminal running the residence's prostitution circle, returns from prison on his wedding day. Fraj, his brother and the town warlock, falls in love with Ramla, his brother's future wife: He is the only man of the residence who has seen her face, as she is kept prisoner in one of the rooms until the wedding night.
Torn between the life he thought he could leave behind in Tunisia and the life he’s created for himself in Marseille, a man finds himself at a crucial crossroads, in Nejib Belkadhi’s latest.
Idris is a young shepherd in the desert of Tunesia. One day a jeep drives by and a woman takes a picture of him; she says she's from Paris and promises to send him a copy. But when nothing arrives during the next months, Idris becomes worried. His father advises him to get his "face" back or bad things may happen to him. So he sets out to Paris... and discovers Paris as a world full of strange things and weird behavior.
Over three periods of her life, a grandmother keeps repeating to her grandson the same apparently trivial story.
A mysterious woman goes into a remote house of a family with a long history, but a set of secrets and stories that ties her to the family are revealed, and together they discover unexpected truths on a rainy night.
The 27 years old Nozha comes home with a sense of failure and despair following a long absence after marrying against her family's will.
Major General Ezz El-Din travels to Tunisia to arrest Mohsen, who left Egypt years ago after being wrongfully accused of killing his daughter. Mohsen lives in Tunisia and is married to Magda. He has become a successful businessman. Mohsen confesses to Ezz El-Din that his daughter Nadia was involved in a relationship with her colleague Nabil, who brought love between them.
Regaya marries the man she loves, but after years of happiness, her husband dies, leaving her with a profound emptiness in her life. She refuses all proposals for remarriage, savoring the taste of freedom. However, she soon discovers that society views divorced women with suspicion.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of contemporary North Africa, this drama follows three women as they navigate the complex interplay between tradition and modernity. Each woman, driven by her own desires for success and meaningful relationships, faces societal pressures and cultural constraints that test their resolve. As their lives unexpectedly intersect, they reveal the shared struggles and resilience needed to overcome the obstacles placed in their path.