Film guide 2015
As I Open My Eyes
A young singer claims her voice in Tunis on the eve of political upheaval.
- Original title
- À peine j’ouvre les yeux
- Director
- Leyla Bouzid
- Year
- 2015
Editorial profile. Availability on LAREINE TV has not been confirmed.
Story, without spoilers
Tunis, summer 2010. Eighteen-year-old Farah has passed her exams, but the medical career imagined by her family cannot contain her ambitions. Singing with a politically outspoken rock band, she explores love and nightlife while her mother Hayet worries about the dangers surrounding her.
Context & recognition
Leyla Bouzid’s first feature approaches the months before the Tunisian revolution through music and a mother–daughter relationship. Presented at Venice Days in 2015, it connects youthful energy with the pressures of surveillance.
Main characters & cast
Farah
Baya Medhaffar
A recent school graduate who sings in a political rock band.
Hayet
Ghalia Benali
Farah’s mother, whose experience informs her fears for her daughter.
