In this episode of the podcast, Alex recommends three Tunisian films by women directors from the last decade, including Where the Wind Comes From, which just had its world premiere at Sundance 2025.
At Sundance 2025, Alex saw a lovely debut feature from a Tunisian woman director, Amal Guellaty’s Where the Wind Comes From, which she also wrote and edited. And it made her think about how difficult it can be to find films by women from Africa and the Middle East. But she can recommend several first features from Tunisian women directors that you can watch right now.
In this episode, Alex discusses why it’s so hard to see films by women from Africa and the Middle East. She talks about why you should watch Where the Wind Comes From in the future and two films by Tunisian women directors that you can watch now: As I Open My Eyes (2015) and Under the Fig Trees (2022). All three films are fiction feature debuts (the director of Under the Fig Trees previously directed a documentary).
Show Notes for 3 Tunisian films by women directors
Read Alex’s review of Erige Sehiri’s Under the Fig Trees.
Read Alex’s interview with Tunisian filmmaker Hinde Boujemaa about Noura’s Dream (not available in North America)
You can also read Alex’s coverage of the two Cannes 2015 films she discusses on the episode.
Read Alex’s review of Lamb, the first Ethiopian film to screen in the Cannes Official Selection
Read Alex’s review of Nahid, the first feature by Iranian filmmaker Ida Panahendeh
Related Episodes to 3 Tunisian films directed by women
Women at Cannes Ep. 5: Reviews of Cannes 2022 films by women, including Under the Fig Trees
Podcast Credits
This episode was edited, produced, and recorded by Alex Heeney.
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An AI-generated transcript for the episode is available on Apple Podcasts.
