Fatma

Sfax. Fatma is seventeen. Her mother is dead. She lives at home with her father, brothers and sisters. And a cousin, Taher, who is staying over for a while. One night, her cousin rapes her. Life goes on… but Fatma eventually dreams of only one thing: to go to school far away, in Tunis. Tunis. Fatma meets Mourad. She falls for him and one evening sleeps with him. Fatma passes her exams. But she decides once again to leave. She breaks up with Mourad and abandons her studies. Zannouch. Fatma is driven by her father to this remote village to work as a schoolteacher. Then, Aziz, a young doctor, enters her life. It’s love at first sight. Fatma and Aziz get married. But before the wedding night, Fatma decides to have her hymen sewn up. A minor operation according to the doctor, involving three stitches only. Fatma and Aziz seem to form a perfect couple. But Fatma is not really happy… « This film is based on a true story. (…) I wanted a film in the plural like my country. Fatma’s personality forms in her encounters with people and places. (…) The Tunisian woman remains confronted with the urgent need to speak out. This speaking out is the best barrier to those who nostalgically want to revive practices to make women subservient. May this film be a modest contribution to that speaking out. » (Khaled Ghorbal)