Invisible Shark
Directors Intention note: This project has been developed in collaboration with my screenwriter Sophia Haoues, as in our view her input was essential when dealing with certain issues seriously affecti…
Invisible Shark
Directors Intention note: This project has been developed in collaboration with my screenwriter Sophia Haoues, as in our view her input was essential when dealing with certain issues seriously affecting Tunisia today. We wanted to get away from the traditional, often sensational attitudes regarding these issues and so avoiding frequently accepted views. This is why, from the very start of writing, we felt that choosing a strong free young woman, an ordinary heroine, was vital in order to convey the reality in Tunisia today. Then came the choice of the main decor, a building by the sea. A neglected old colonial building, a little dilapidated, like so many found in Tunisia today. Inside, an extraordinary fauna, a human zoo where tenants try to survive or simply find meaning to their existence, reminiscent of the renowned Desmond Morris's concept of the urban animal. So many portraits make up the 'living flesh' of this scenario, a social microcosm that partly tells the story of this country. Sexual misery, relationships of domination, endemic poverty, not to mention the metaphorical dimension of evil that gnaws, are described with the precision of an entomologist. Amid this misery is Malek, discreet, fragile, and yet ironic, hiding a terrible secret, a secret which will lead her to break her shackles taking her revenge on fate. In this old building where everyone is watching everyone, a reflection of an intolerant, often racist Tunisian society, it is very difficult to protect one's privacy and make a life choice without anyone contradicting or opposing it. From the impetuous homosexual tenant who seeks adventures as if there were no tomorrow, to the single woman who abandons her little daughter for a younger man, to the taxi driver who beats his mute wife with absolute indifference, to the young black woman who has traveled from her home in the south to be with her Tunisian boyfriend, to the disturbing concierge with copies of keys to all apartments, this film is a dive into the heart of a desperately devious daily life. It brings us a series of snapshots taken on the spot where humanity argues with the sordid, a prism that reflects back our own image, fragmented, broken, emptied of its substance. Silentium is also the struggle of a young woman, a rape victim, yet free-spirited, living in a Tunisian society that remains deeply committed to its tribal and patriarchal DNA.
Invisible Shark
Comedy,Drama,Sci-Fi
Film Details
Directors Intention note: This project has been developed in collaboration with my screenwriter Sophia Haoues, as in our view her input was essential when dealing with certain issues seriously affecting Tunisia today. We wanted to get away from the traditional, often sensational attitudes regarding these issues and so avoiding frequently accepted views. This is why, from the very start of writing, we felt that choosing a strong free young woman, an ordinary heroine, was vital in order to convey the reality in Tunisia today.
Then came the choice of the main decor, a building by the sea. A neglected old colonial building, a little dilapidated, like so many found in Tunisia today. Inside, an extraordinary fauna, a human zoo where tenants try to survive or simply find meaning to their existence, reminiscent of the renowned Desmond Morris's concept of the urban animal.
So many portraits make up the 'living flesh' of this scenario, a social microcosm that partly tells the story of this country. Sexual misery, relationships of domination, endemic poverty, not to mention the metaphorical dimension of evil that gnaws, are described with the precision of an entomologist. Amid this misery is Malek, discreet, fragile, and yet ironic, hiding a terrible secret, a secret which will lead her to break her shackles taking her revenge on fate.
In this old building where everyone is watching everyone, a reflection of an intolerant, often racist Tunisian society, it is very difficult to protect one's privacy and make a life choice without anyone contradicting or opposing it. From the impetuous homosexual tenant who seeks adventures as if there were no tomorrow, to the single woman who abandons her little daughter for a younger man, to the taxi driver who beats his mute wife with absolute indifference, to the young black woman who has traveled from her home in the south to be with her Tunisian boyfriend, to the disturbing concierge with copies of keys to all apartments, this film is a dive into the heart of a desperately devious daily life. It brings us a series of snapshots taken on the spot where humanity argues with the sordid, a prism that reflects back our own image, fragmented, broken, emptied of its substance.
Silentium is also the struggle of a young woman, a rape victim, yet free-spirited, living in a Tunisian society that remains deeply committed to its tribal and patriarchal DNA..