A screening of the film, Under The Fig Trees, followed by an online conversation with Tunisian French filmmaker Erige Sehiri.

Taking place over the course of a day, Under The Fig Trees presents an intergenerational dialogue between a group of teens and older folk as they work the summer harvest, catch feelings, attempt to understand each other, and navigate the complicated terrain of building deeper ties.

The film was inspired by real events that revolve around female agricultural workers in Tunisia. These women often fall victim to car crashes, packed into the back of pick-up trucks on the way to and from the fields. By allowing them to live an imaginary final day of work, unknowing of the drama to come, the director, Erige Sehiri, wanted to reveal how “life is worth nothing, but nothing is worth life.” Like the figs that ripen delicately over time, the stories of the various relationships in the film open before the eyes of the spectators as if nothing is written in advance.

This acclaimed film has won several awards at the Venice International Film Festival’s
Final Cut and joined the selection of the 54th Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also selected to be Tunisia’s official submission in the 2023 Oscars for Best International Feature Film.

Watch the Trailer:

Biography

Erige Sehiri

Erige Sehiri is a Tunisian French director and producer. A former journalist, she started her career as a documentary filmmaker. Her breakout feature documentary, Railway Men, which presented the daily struggle of railway workers against the failures of the national railways, remained for six weeks in Tunisian theaters. In 2022, she wrote, directed, and produced her first fiction feature, Under The Fig Trees, which won several awards at the Venice International Film Festival’s
Final Cut and joined the selection of the 54th Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also selected to be Tunisia’s official submission in the 2023 Oscars for Best International Feature Film.