Mustafa Adouani Movies
Set in a Tunisian melting-pot town in 1967 and loosely based on the reminiscences of filmmaker Ferid Boughedir, this bittersweet comedy-drama tells the tale of how the secret conspiracy between three teen girls to lose their virginity before they turn seventeen wreaks havoc on the lives and friendships between their disparate families. The fathers have known each other many years, but underneath their friendship lies a silent but strong undercurrent of tension that relates to their different religions and ethnic origins. One family is Muslim, one is Jewish and the last is Roman Catholic. The trouble erupts because each of the girls choose to dally with men outside their religions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gamil Ratib, Mustafa Adouani, (more)
- 1993
Bajou (Michel Boujenah) is an enterprising, talented man. He has risen from poor, humble beginnings, and thanks to a gift for mathematics, a willingness to work hard and occasionally cut corners, he is now a wealthy, successful man. He is a careful man in most respects, and does not generally throw his considerable weight around as a Jew in the Muslim country of Tunisia. However, he wants to start a family, and has determined that the beautiful Habiba (Delphine Forest) would make the perfect wife. It doesn't matter to him much that she is not interested in him, or in starting a family. Unfortunately for him, although he can win legal access to her person through buying her marriage contract from her father and driving off her lover, he cannot win her heart. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Boujenah, Delphine Forest, (more)
- 1992
Roufa (Abdel Kechiche) is an attractive young man, and that works out well for him because he is a practitioner of "bezness:" he's a sex-for-hire boy for the tourists who come to Tunisia. His girlfriend deeply resents his having sex with other women but doesn't seem much bothered that a rich German man he's been having sex with is hoping to sponsor him in Europe. She also has a hard time with his tendency to behave like any other Arab male around a woman, telling her how to take care of her business. As it turns out, she's got better sense than any of the men around her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Abdel Kechiche, Jacques Penot, (more)
- 1990
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In this unusual feature from Tunisia, a twelve-year old boy takes advantage of the erotic opportunities his childhood status gives him to ogle women in his mother's bathhouse, and to spy on the attractive woman next door, who is conducting a clandestine affair with a tradesman whom he is friends with. Eventually, his family hires a young girl as a servant, and thanks to her interest in him, at last he has an opportunity to experience a full-fledged sexual encounter. This coming-of-age story features fairly explicit sexual scenes and female nudity which are not commonly found in films made in Muslim countries. Not only that, but women in it are shown to be frankly sexual beings - yet another departure from the cultural norms. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mustafa Adouani, Rabia Ben Abdallah, (more)
The Tunisian Man of Ashes spotlights Imad Malaal in the role of a terrified bridegroom-to-be. Malaal's aversion to women can be traced back to his youth, when he and his best friend Khaled Ksouri are molested by their male employer. Unable to discuss this violation with their tradition-bound families, Malaal and Ksouri decide to overcome their sexual insecurities by visiting a prostitute. The experience liberates one of the men -- while driving the other to commit murder. Man of Ashes was originally titled Rih Essed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Imad Maalal, Khaled Ksouri, (more)
