After its acclaimed world premiere as the Opening Film of Un Certain Regard at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, Erige Sehiri’s PROMISED SKY has continued its award-winning journey by securing three major prizes at the Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême in France.
 
The film took home Best Directing, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress for Deborah Naney, marking a remarkable triple victory at this prestigious French festival.
 
Inspired by real events that unfolded in Tunisia, where sub-Saharan migrants were violently targeted in the media and on the streets, the film reflects a wave of hostility fueled by inflammatory political rhetoric, which led to arbitrary arrests and expulsions.
 
Set against this turbulent backdrop, the film explores — through a quiet yet powerful lens — the tension and solidarity that emerge in times of crisis. “What interests me most is moving beyond the migrant archetype by creating characters who feel real, complex, unexpected, and capable of challenging the audience,” says director Erige Sehiri.
 
PROMISED SKY follows Marie, an Ivorian pastor and former journalist living in Tunis. Her home becomes a refuge for Naney, a young mother seeking a better future, and Jolie, a strong-willed student carrying her family’s hopes. The arrival of a little orphan girl challenges their sense of solidarity in a tense social climate, revealing both their fragility and strength.
 
Starring Aïssa Maïga, Laetitia Ky, Deborah Naney, and Tunisian actor Mohamed Grayaa, PROMISED SKY is directed and co-produced by Erige Sehiri, produced by Didar Domehri, lensed by Frida Marzouk, who has worked with Sehiri before on UNDER THE FIG TREES and was involved in all the JOHN WICK movies. It is also distributed in the Arab World by MAD Distribution.
 
Erige Sehiri is a French-Tunisian director, producer, and former journalist whose work blends documentary realism with narrative cinema. She began her career in documentary filmmaking, directing the critically acclaimed On the Track (2018), which shed light on the daily struggles of Tunisian railway workers.
 
In 2022, Sehiri wrote, directed, and produced her debut feature Under the Fig Trees, an intimate exploration of youth, work, and fleeting moments of connection in a rural fig orchard. The film premiered at the 54th Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and was selected to represent Tunisia at the 2023 Academy Awards. Since then, it has screened at major international festivals and been released in over twenty countries.
 
Alongside her cinematic work, Sehiri is a passionate advocate for freedom of expression and media literacy. She co-founded the media platform Inkyfada and the Tunisian NGO Al-Khat. She is also a founding member of Rawiat – Sisters in Cinema, a collective dedicated to supporting female filmmakers across the Arab World and its diaspora.
 
This triple win at Angoulême further cements PROMISED SKY’s status as one of the most powerful and resonant films of the year, continuing to captivate audiences and critics alike.