Venice-Bound ‘Aicha’ Acquired in Several Territories, Debuts Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

Mehdi M. Barsaoui’s “Aïcha” has been acquired by several distributors ahead of its world premiere in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival. The Party Film Sales is handling international sales. Variety debuts its trailer here.

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Distributors attached include Cineart for Benelux, La Aventura Audiovisual for Spain, Discovery for former Yugoslavia, Jour2fête for France, I Wonder for Italy and Hakka Distribution for Tunisia. Cinewaves has taken theatrical rights for Middle East and North Africa, and Sunnyland Film, a member of A.R.T. Group, has taken digital sales rights for Middle East and North Africa.

The film follows Aya, who is in her late twenties. She feels trapped in her life with her parents in southern Tunisia, seeing no prospects for change. One day, the minivan she commutes in daily between her town and the hotel where she works crashes, leaving her as the sole survivor. Realizing this could be her chance for a fresh start, she flees to Tunis under a new identity, but everything is soon jeopardized when she becomes the main witness to a police blunder.

In a statement, the director says: “The film delves into the lives of Tunisian youth, whose dreams are too often denied. It is also a film about new beginnings and second chances and the multifaceted pressures on Tunisian society, particularly on women. ‘Aïcha’ portrays a quest for freedom and the desire to live life to the fullest—a paradox where true freedom for the protagonist can only be attained through her death.

“In her pursuit of life, Aïcha faces numerous obstacles: family authority, submissiveness, misogyny, sexism—and more generally women’s place in society. Above all, she confronts the corruption and oppression of the police, their omnipresence and omnipotence over the population.”

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The cast is led by Fatma Sfar, Nidhal Saadi, Yasmine Dimassi and Hela Ayed.

The producers are Habib Attia for Cinetelefilms, and Marc Irmer for Dolce Vita Films. The co-producers are Chantal Fischer, Flaminio Zadra, Antoine Khalife and Faisal Baltyuor.

Barsaoui’s first feature film “A Son” had its world premiere in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival in 2019, where it received the best actor award for Sami Bouajila. It was distributed in 20 countries and became the first Tunisian film to win a César award. “Aïcha” is his second feature film.

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