Hedi

"Between duty and desire"
Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attiy's debut film tells the story of Hedi, an introverted young man who is about to marry a charming bride assigned to him by a family arrangement. Suffering under the dictates of his emotionally manipulative mother, the man gradually finds the courage to challenge convention through his encounter with the free-spirited dancer Rym. Atti's emotive blending of an emancipatory love story with a socio-political allegory was the first Arabic title in Berlin's main competition in twenty long years and rightly took two major prizes.