On a hot summer morning, a crew of workers arrive at a fig orchard in northwest Tunisia. Through sun-drenched leaves, the youngest of the women steal precious moments of respite away from the foreman’s watchful gaze. Meanwhile, the elders, tasked with the careful job of packing the tender fruit, watch them and reminisce. They joke, argue, gossip and flirt, all the while painting an unhurried but riveting portrait of everyday life in a rural society where class and gender do not allow for personal freedoms.
Set over the course of a single day, utilizing a cast made up of an intergenerational ensemble of non-professional actors, UNDER THE FIG TREES reveals an "elegant, understated tapestry of complex interactions" (The Hollywood Reporter) that demonstrate how the bonds of sisterhood act as a transformative expression of resistance.
“A big-minded film that grounds its ideas about labor, sexism, faith, and modernity in the zippy rhythms of its characters’ negotiations around friendship, romance, and work.” –Vulture
DIRECTED BY ERIGE SEHIRI
TUNISIA, SWITZERLAND, FRANCE, QATAR, GERMANY | 2021 | ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
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