The word ‘Tlamess’ means an enchantress’ spell, as well as something inexplicable, and Tunisian filmmaker Ala Eddine Slim’s beautifully shot second feature is as enchanting and intriguing as the name suggests.
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S is a young soldier in the Tunisian desert. When his mother dies, he gets a week’s leave and goes back home. But he never returns to the barracks and becomes the target of a manhunt through the backstreets of his working-class neighbourhood, before vanishing into the mountains. Several years later, F, a young woman married to a rich businessman finds out that she’s pregnant. One morning, she leaves her luxurious villa and disappears into the forest.
Director’s Biography
Ala Eddine Slim is a Tunisian filmmaker. He has directed several short films, art videos and feature films, selected and multi-awarded in many international film festivals (Clermont-Ferrand, Grand Prix FID Marseille 2012 for Babylon, Lion of the Future, Best Technical Contribution at the Venice Film Festival 2016, and Tanit d’Or at JCC 2016 for The Last of Us).
Tlamess is his second fiction film, a Franco-Tunisian co-production supported by the Franco-Tunisian fund, the Tunisian Ministry of Culture Fund, the Aide aux Cinemas du Monde of the CNC and the World Cinema Fund Europe.
TLAMESS
Director: Ala Eddine Slim
Production Companies: Exit Productions, Still Moving, Inside Productions, Madbox Studios
With the support of: Franco-Tunisian fund from CNC & CNCI, Tunisian Ministry of Culture Fund, Aide aux Cinemas du Monde of the CNC World Cinema Fund Europe, The Kamel Lazaar Foundation, SACEM
Producers: Ala Eddine Slim, Juliette Lepoutre, Ali Hassouna, Chawki Knis, Pierre Menahem
_Screenplay: Ala Eddine Slim
Director of Photography: Amine Messadi
Editor: Ala Eddine Slim
Set Design: Malek Gnaoui
Music: Oiseaux-Tempête
Sound: Moncef Taleb
With
Abdullah Miniawy
Souhir Ben Amara
Khaled Ben Aissa
Tunisia-France 2019
120 mins
THE TIME IS NEW: SELECTIONS FROM CONTEMPORARY ARAB CINEMA
200 Meters
Tue 7 Sep 20:50; Wed 15 Sep 18:10
As Above, So Below (Kama fissamaa’, kathalika ala al-ard)
Wed 8 Sep 20:45; Fri 1 Oct 18:10 (+ pre-recorded Q&A with director Sarah Francis)
143 Sahara Street (143 rue du désert)
Sat 11 Sep 11:30; Mon 20 Sep 18:15
It Must Be Heaven
Sat 11 Sep 20:40; Mon 27 Sep 18:00; Mon 4 Oct 14:30
Let’s Talk Ehkeely
Mon 13 Sep 18:00 (+ pre-recorded Q&A with director Marianne Khoury); Tue 5 Oct 20:50
Tlamess
Tue 14 Sep 20:40; Thu 30 Sep 18:00
The Man Who Sold His Skin (L’Homme qui a vendu sa peau)
Thu 16 Sep 20:50
Talking About Trees
Mon 20 Sep 14:30; Mon 27 Sep 20:45; Sun 3 Oct 18:00
You Will Die at Twenty (Satamoto fel eshreen)
Thu 23 Sep 20:30 (+ pre-recorded Q&A with director Amjad Abu Alala); Sat 2 Oct 14:20
Narrative Encounters: Shorts Programme
Fri 24 Sep 20:40; Tue 5 Oct 18:10
Adam
Sat 25 Sep 14:20; Mon 4 Oct 20:50
Abou Leila
Sun 26 Sep 18:00; Sat 2 Oct 20:30
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Programme notes and credits compiled by the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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