Erige Sehiri’s UNDER THE FIG TREES crowned with a Grand Prix at the Taipei Film Festival

release date July 11 2023

The highly acclaimed Tunisian rural drama UNDER THE FIG TREES by Erige Sehiri just added another prize to its already well-decorated trophy shelf, claiming the New Talent Competition’s Grand Prix at the recently concluded Taipei Film Festival, which ran from June 22nd to July 8th.

This comes on the heels of the film also winning Best Director at the Pingyao International Film Festival at the start of the year and Best Actor and Actress at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou in March.

Before that, the film got the EcoProd Jury Award at the 2022 Cannes International Film Festival, Silver Tanit Award at the 2022 Carthage Film Festival, the Grand prize at Festival International du Film Francophone de Tübingen-Stuttgart, and was also selected to be Tunisia's official submission in the 2023 Oscars for Best International Feature Film.

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 critically acclaimed by Lovia Gyarkye from Hollywood Reporter, who said that "Under the Fig Trees is a pleasurable and immersive experience that offers an elegant, understated tapestry of complex interactions."

Meanwhile, Amber Wilkinson from Screen Daily said that the film is "likely to travel further thanks to its engaging depiction of summer flirtations and a gentle exploration of sisterhood against a patriarchal backdrop."

UNDER THE FIG TREES is directed by Erige Sehiri and co-written by Ghalya Lacroix and Peggy Hamann. The film stars Fide Fdhili, Feten Fdhili, Ameni Fdhili, Samar Sifi and Abdelhak Mrabti. Also, Frida Marzouk served as the film's DOP and its music was composed by Amine Bouhafa.

Finally, the film — which is a joint production between Tunisia (Henia Production Company), Switzerland (Akka Films Company), and France (Maneki Films Company) — is distributed globally by Luxbox Company and in the Arab World by MAD Solutions.

Erige Sehiri is a Tunisian-French director and producer. After a brief stint of working as a journalist, she started her filmmaking career by directing a number of documentaries.

Her groundbreaking feature documentary RAILWAY MEN, which tackled the daily struggle of railway workers against the failures of the national railways, screened for six consecutive weeks in Tunisian theaters.