Tunisia, Arabic - 120 min
Feature Narrative
TOTAL BUDGET
US $1,004,898
CONFIRMED FINANCING
US $188,000
CONFIRMED FINANCIAL PARTNERS
-Exit Productions, a Tunisian production company.
-CNCI, Tunisian National Centre for Cinema and Image.
-Hakka Distribution, Tunisian distributor.
CONTACT
slim.alaeddine@gmail.com
+2162905811
In a remote town, missing people return after many years. Mystery and fear set in, and everyone tries to understand the phenomenon as tensions rise in the air.
In a remote and reclusive town, the missing people return and appear enigmatic and bizarre. The tension within the families, the community, and the town grows. Fathi, a local police inspector, tries to understand what is happening, with the help of Amine, his doctor friend. As they go about their respective investigations with Fathi investigating and Amine analyzing, the two friends become stuck in the absurdity and strangeness of the case. Then Omar, a police inspector sent from the capital, arrives to the city to solve the enigma. The stories intertwine and intermingle, while the atmosphere becomes oppressive. What happened when they disappeared? Will Omar's arrival bring understanding? Is there still time to understand? As tension mounts among the inhabitants, some groups form to exclude the returnees, while others call for them to be welcomed back. A curse falls on the town and the matter becomes complicated. Many questions and encounters take place in the city arena and under the gaze of stray dogs.
Agora is the place where all the inhabitants of a city gather and discuss current affairs; it is also a place of making decisions. In the film, this place is represented by the public square , which will be shown twice: the first time is when deciding the fate of the revenants and the second time is when covering up the lie. Agora is the story of a past, supposedly disappeared and forgotten, which reappears with so much pain and bad memories. The returnees are the image of the different failures experienced both on family and on community levels. All these stories have resonances in their own small circles; the family of each one. The personal stories of the ghosts are merely alibis for a story with the plots and twists of a thriller and/or investigative film. As a filmmaker, my first desires are in the territory of cinema. As a result, all the characters in the film will be carriers of the most classic cinematographic universes. There are two important characters in the film: the city and nature. There will be a kind of hidden war between the city (with its inhabitants, buildings, etc.) and nature (sea, crows, etc.), under the gaze of the stray dogs, which symbolizes the noble decay for me. It is this eternal struggle that stimulates me, as the humans are only actors.
Agora is Ala Eddine Slim's third feature film. It is a new and exciting adventure in terms of directing, producing and filmmaking. Development of the film began a year ago and partnerships are beginning to materialise, both nationally and internationally. Since the Tunisian producer is also the director, this double task facilitates and allows shortcuts in the making of the film. Agora is a film that contains many scenes with special effects and makeup, and it would be preferable to collaborate with renowned technicians. It is also a film that is a logical continuation of the author's two previous films with recurring elements such as the city, the forest and the animals.
Agora is a film that mirrors the current state of the world, as it deals with economic, social, health and security problems, etc... It is in the background of each character's investigations that we perceive different realities of today's Tunisia. Agora is a challenge on all levels.
Ala Eddine Slim - Exit Productions
2021: On the Hill by Belhassen Handous (in production)
2019: Tlamess by Ala Eddine Slim
2016: The Last of Us by Ala Eddine Slim
2014: Hecho en casa by Belhassen Handous
2012: Babylon by Ala Eddine Slim, Youssef Chebbi
2010: The Mud by Amen Allah Gharbi
2010: The Bridge by Ali Hassouna
2010: Coma by Aladin Abu Taleb
2010: The Stadium by Ala Eddine Slim
2009: Ayan Ken by Ridha Tlili
2008: Silence by Karim Souaki
2008: The Fall by Ala Eddine Slim