Hichem Rostom Movies

A man tries to give his hometown a new look before European television exposes it to the world in this comedy. Ftouni (Ammar Bouthelja) is the leader of a cultural group that serves as a city council in a small southern Tunisian village. While the town is a humble farming community where raising goats is a greater concern than fine arts of civic improvement projects, Ftouni learns from representatives from Tunisia's federal government that a German television crew will be spending a day in the town to film material for an upcoming documentary, and he immediately draws up plans to give the hamlet a make-over. Ftouni banishes the farm animals that are penned up near the village border, he pays locals to read newspapers in the café so the townspeople will appear literate, he installs a fountain in the town square even though there isn't enough water to make it work, and he persuades the town's Sufi population to stage a pageant celebrating the city's tradition of religious diversity -- a history that has little basis in fact. However, Ftouni's efforts to give the village a bit of polish don't work so well once the German newsmen arrive. Talfaza Jaya (aka The TV's Coming) was screened in competition as part of the 2006 Dubai Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Thanks to new Tunisian legislation recently enacted, Zeineb (Houyem Rassaa) can now legally divorce her draconian husband -- though she still lives in fear, since he is more or less obsessed with tracking her down. As she flees her deranged husband and his equally obsessive family, Zeineb runs into M'Hamed (Ahmed Hafiene), the man she loved before she was sent off into her arranged marriage. M'Hamed is also engaged in his own form of escape by trying to save up money in order to leave Tunisia and pursue his lifelong dream of studying in France. Until now, this has been financially impossible and M'Hamed has been forced to become a teacher. But by chance, M'Hamed has learned of the opportunity to work for a movie production filming on location. Zeineb and M'Hamed become traveling companions as they cross the desert looking for the film crew that may provide the escape each is seeking. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Born in Tunisia but raised in France and Senegal, Soufiya (Yasmine Bahri) feels torn between the cultures of Europe and Africa. Soufiya and her father Wahid have been on the run from her mother for ten years before deciding to return to the family home. Initially bristling at the backward ways of her countrymen, Soufiya soon embraces her African roots and befriends a band of musicians and a similarly uprooted young servant. Tunisian director Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud spins this engrossing tale about the difference between a nation and a home. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Anthony Minghella wrote and directed this award-winning adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel about a doomed and tragic romance set against the backdrop of World War II. In a field hospital in Italy, Hana (Juliette Binoche), a nurse from Canada, is caring for a pilot who was horribly burned in a plane wreck; he has no identification and cannot remember his name, so he's known simply as "the English Patient," thanks to his accent. When the hospital is forced to evacuate, Hana determines en route that the patient shouldn't be moved far due to his fragile condition, so the two are left in a monastery to be picked up later. In time, Hana begins to piece together the patient's story from the shards of his memories; he's actually Count Laszlo Almasy (Ralph Fiennes), of Hungarian nobility and an explorer working with a group mapping uncharted territory in North Africa. An Englishman, Geoffrey Clifton (Colin Firth), soon joins Almasy's team; travelling with him is his lovely and spirited wife, Katherine (Kristin Scott Thomas). Katherine and Laszlo soon fall in love, which leads Laszlo to betray his friend, his country and all that is dear to him. Meanwhile, Hana and the Patient are joined by Kip (Naveen Andrews), a Sikh with a gift for defusing mines, and Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe), an intelligence agent who knows some of Laszlo's most shameful secrets. The English Patient won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Juliette Binoche). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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

Filmed on location in Tunisia, the four-hour Italian TV production A Child Called Jesus mixes Scripture with Speculation. The film attempts to fill in the "missing years" of $Jesus, from ages 3 through 12. When King Herod (Hatteb Semlali) fearing that the Messiah has indeed been born, orders that all Hebrew male children under the age of three be slain, Joseph (Bekim Fehmu) moves his family near Egypt. Here, Jesus (Matteo Bellina), sensing His divinity, expresses a desire to return to Nazareth. Travelling homeward with His mother Mary (Carmen San Martin), Jesus flashes forward to events that will unfold in his adult life (Alessandro Gassman plays the grown Jesus in these scenes). Originally presented in two parts, A Child Called Jesus was syndicated to American TV stations during the last week of November in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide