"A son", Mehdi Barsaoui and moral dilemmas in Tunisia

Text by: Sophie Torlotin Follow

When an idyllic weekend of a privileged family turns into a nightmare in post-revolutionary Tunisia ... This is the context of the film "A Son", Mehdi Barsaoui's first feature film which has toured the world since its presentation at the Venice Film Festival last September.

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Farès and Meriem form a beautiful, privileged, happy loving couple with their only 11-year-old son, Aziz. But their lives changed in September 2011 during a weekend in the south of Tunisia. An ambush set by Islamists, a stray bullet, Aziz is seriously injured and his life depends on a liver transplant.

This dramatic event immerses the characters in a series of moral dilemmas. Director Mehdi Barsaoui addresses the issue of organ transplantation and trafficking, fatherhood and virility in his country, Tunisia, which is said to be the most emancipated in the Arab world, but is still governed by conservative laws.

Critical and popular success

This first feature film has toured festivals around the world, winning prizes at the Venice Film Festival, the Cinematographic Days of Carthage and Cairo. Mehdi Barsaoui is delighted to see Un Fils being released in theaters in twenty countries.

" I was in India, Brazil, China ... and I realized that, for example, in China, they did not know where Tunisia was located. What could be better than culture than being a window on a country. "

Released in cinemas in Tunisia in mid-January, Un fils is already enjoying critical and popular success.

► Also listen: Mehdi Barsaoui is our Culture Guest

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• Cinema
• Tunisia
• Culture
• Culture Africa

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