A Tale of Love and Desire

Part of the Semaine de la Critique and selected for the closing night at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, “Une histoire d’amour et de désir” by Leyla Bouzid is an absolute gem.
This is the second film by the Tunisian director, whose first opus, “À peine j’ouvre les yeux”, is amazingly vivacious, conveying the driving force and hopes for the Arab Spring in Tunis.
With her new film “A Story of Love and Desire”, written with the support of the Annual Selection of Le Groupe Ouest in 2016, Leyla tackles the burning issue of love in the Muslim world, the erotic power of Arabian literature over the centuries, the absolute necessity for addressing desire through a poetical form!

Synopsis

Ahmed, 18, French of Algerian origin, grew up in the suburbs of Paris. At the university, he meets Farah, a young Tunisian girl, full of energy, who has just arrived in Paris. While discovering a collection of sensual and erotic Arab literature he never imagined existed, Ahmed falls head over heels in love with Farah, and although literally overwhelmed with desire, he will try to resist it.