As I Open My Eyes

  • Leyla Bouzid
  • France, Tunisia, Belgium, UAE
  • 2015
  • 102'
  • À peine j'ouvre les yeux

Taking place in the summer before the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, Leyla Bouzid’s feature debut follows a young underground band, whose members are forced to grow up in the midst of social oppression and fear, handling it with their adolescent vigor and rebellion. Eighteen-year-old Farah is a singer in an activist rock band. When she becomes the target of Government censorship, zealous Farah is resolved to fight the repressive system using music and lyrics as her weapon. Ignoring the concern of her mother, whose onetime defiance was long broken by fear and pressure, Farah goes out, gets drunk, enjoys the nightlife, and discovers love. The film is Tunisian entry for Academy Awards.

Leyla Bouzid

Tunisian director. She studied French literature at Sorbonne and directing at La Fémis film school in Paris. As I Open My Eyes is her feature debut, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in the Venice Days program.

As I Open My Eyes

Director
Leyla Bouzid
Writer
Leyla Bouzid, Marie-Sophie Chambon
Production
Blue Monday Productions, Propaganda Production, Hélicotronc
Cast
Baya Medhaffar, Ghalia Ben Ali, Montassar Ayari, Aymen Omrani, Lassaad Jamoussi
Photography
Sébastien Goepfert
Montage
Lilian Corbeille
Producer
Sandra da Fonseca, Imed Marzouk
Festivals & Awards
Rotterdam Internationa Film Festival 2016; Venice International Film Festival – Venice Days 2015; Toronto International Film Festival 2015

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