Middle East / North Africa Film Series - Session Two: Zizou and the Arab Spring

Join us for the second session of the Fall 2023 Middle East / North Africa (MENA) Film Series.

Zizou and the Arab Spring (2016 / 110 min.) - Directed by Ferid Boughedir (also translated as Sweet Smell of Spring)

"Aziz, nicknamed Zizou, young unemployed graduate, leaves his village on the border of Sahara for Tunis, the capital in quest of a job. He becomes installer of satellite dishes on house roofs. Still keeping his honest and candid soul, he frequents all social sets: from the richest to the poorest, trendy modernists to supporters of despotic regime, or underground islamist opponents. One day, while working on the terraces of the beautiful village of Sidi Bou Saïd, he falls madly in love with a girl, who looks locked up by a mafia group close to the regime. Henceforward, his dream is to set her free. This quest for love becomes his reason for living, and he will proceed unconsciously against the tide of the Revolution that is about to burst in Tunisia and so, trigger in the whole region the crazy hopes of a Spring of freed peoples! Through his clumsiness and naivety, he will come across hundreds of adventures and end up an unwilling hero!"

The viewing will be facilitated by Dr. Younasse Tarbouni of the Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies department