Feature Narrative Film
TOTAL BUDGET
US $666,620
CONFIRMED FINANCING
US $47,542
CONTACT
asmachiboub@gmail.com
+21623 330 423
Alyssa and her best friend Mehdi undertake a road trip during which they are confronted with the best and worst of what Tunisia has to offer. Even though they cannot reach their goal, this journey changes them forever.
Alyssa, 19, and Mehdi, 24, have been bonded since childhood by an unambiguous friendship. They lead a harsh life. In fact, Mehdi is the only college graduate in his family, yet he is the only unemployed one. As for Alyssa, she lives with her mother who suffers from depression. She finds herself, consequently, in charge of her younger sister Zeineb.
One day, Mehdi, who is passionate about drawing, finds out about a contest that would allow him to win an internship in Germany. Alyssa sees it as an opportunity to turn their lives around. Thus, they start a crazy road trip during which they’ll go through adventures and challenges alike. They steal food from a gas station, sneak in for free to contemplate Roman ruins, have the car break down, spend the night at a condescending posh family’s home, take drugs at a nightclub, and even wind up at a police station after Alyssa gets assaulted… Their friendship is put to the test.
In Djerba, our protagonists do not reach their intended goal, but they do come back more mature, and closer than ever.
A year later, harsh reality has taken over their dreams of the future.
Tunis – Djerba is born out of the need to tackle the issues of a Tunisian youth plagued by the lack of employment, infrastructure and culture, which sees emigration as the only solution. Alyssa and Mehdi, 19 and 24, have no money and are suffocated by heavy familial problems. Tunis – Djerba depicts the harsh reality of these two best friends.
However, I had no desire to write a dark and hard social drama. It was crucial for me to write a comedy, where serious topics are treated lightly and with humor. The morose reality of the characters is counterbalanced by their overflowing imagination: they constantly reimagine and reinvent their environment. Their dreams are intertwined with their daily life. Without specific editing or calibration changes, imagination takes place within the narrative. This brings a surreal and poetic side that contrasts with the topic. Imagination is this outlet, this emergency exit that everyone has, no matter their social background or education level.
The last point I would like to tackle, the dearest to me, is the friendship between Alyssa and Mehdi. It was essential for me to write a man/woman relationship without a romantic or sexual dimension to it. All over the world, but especially in the Arab world, genders are separated. Here, I make a point in mixing the roles, inventing a courageous girl and a sensitive boy, without this being their only trait.
Tunis - Djerba is their story, their road trip, their odyssey through this Tunisia that will show them its best and its worst.
When Amel gave me the scenario for Tunis - Djerba, I was transported by the lightness of its characters going through the difficulties of life with courage and humor. You have Alyssa, a young rebel, unknowingly feminist, who refuses to fit into a mould. You also have Mehdi, both sensitive and strong, who knows how to dig holes of light in his material and moral darkness, in order to comfort his friend. And then you have this beloved Tunisia, in which we are stuck, whose portrait is painted unapologetically but with tenderness.
I began to see the colors and hear the music of this road trip and I thought to myself: I want to be part of this journey! Feeling confident thanks to our previous experience with Black Mamba, the short film directed by Amel and produced under my care, and which continues to enjoy a fine career in festivals (about 50 participations around the world, 15 awards, and its acquisition by Canal+), I am envisioning this project with a lot of joy. I believe that we have developed mutual trust, and I am optimistic about the possibilities of funding for this film.
2016: Black Mamba
2011: Why Me?