Bent Familia (1997)

Original title

بنت فاميليا

Directed by

Nouri Bouzid

Genre

drama film

Country

Tunisia

Runtime

1h 45m

Rating

5.5 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In Tunis, a married Muslim mother named Amina reconnects with two old friends: Aida, a divorced woman who refused to tolerate her husband's cheating, and Fatiha, an intellectual determined to move to the West. Their friendship challenges Amina's husband Majid, who is also unfaithful, and he tries to use conservative social pressures against her. The film shows the real difficulties women face in contemporary North Africa without offering simple answers.

contemplativeintimatetensemelancholicsocially consciousrealisticemotionally chargedgrounded

What happens

Bent Familia is a 1997 drama set in Tunisia about Amina (Leila Nassim) a married Muslim woman living in Tunis with her two daughters. Even though she is allowed certain freedoms as a Muslim woman this is curtailed when she meets her old friend from school called Aida acted by (Amel Hédhili). A mother of two, Aida took a firm stand not to tolerate her husband's infidelities. She divorced and considers herself a liberated woman. Then there is their mutual friend Fatiha (Nadia Kaci), an intellectual who is adamant that she is going to leave Tunis and settle in the West. This strong triangle of friendship threatens Amina's husband, Majid (Raoul Ben Amor), another adulterer who tries to bring the might of the chauvinist side of Muslim society down on her. Directed by Nouri Bouzid, this well-shot film presents us with the very real problems of women in contemporary North Africa, but offers no easy solutions. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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