Part of the Wisconsin Film Festival, co-sponsored by MESP
Saturday, April 9, 2022
Shannon Hall, Memorial Union
18-year-old Ahmed (Sami Outabali), a French-Algerian living in Paris and a new student at the Sorbonne, is smart, curious, reserved, and a virgin. When Ahmed meets the well-read and much more outwardly expressive Farah (Zbeida Belhajamor), a fellow student from Tunisia, the lightning bolt of love strikes hard. But Ahmed finds it difficult to speak to Farah, and, influenced by the classical Arabic literature he and Farah are discovering, he decides to resist his desire, even when he becomes completely overwhelmed by it.
Swooningly romantic, and sexy, A Tale of Love and Desire achieves a suspense movie level of tension thanks to the visually sensuous sensibilities of Leyla Bouzid, screenwriter and director. Bouzid has also made a film that treasures the intellect and sees the love of books as one of the most attractive aspects for both halves of the couple at the center of the story. “It’s easy to capture the frenzy of a new fling or the seductive meeting of two bodies; what’s more difficult, and what A Tale of Love and Desire does quite well, is study the inner tensions that accompany early sexual experiences — when the heart, mind and body refuse to be in sync — without becoming overly cerebral” (Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter). 2022 Cannes, London, and Busan Film Festivals. (Jim Healy)