Under the Fig Trees
classified 12A SPlease note: This was screened in May 2023
Among the trees, young women and men working the summer harvest develop new feelings, flirt, try to understand each other, find – and flee – deeper connections.
Set in north-west Tunisia and played by non-professional actors, a group of young people are hired to help with the harvest of figs during their summer school break.
Through snippets of conversation here, sudden tiffs there, and amorous glances over there, director Erige Sehiri spins a yarn that carefully and delicately unspools over the course of her film. Understated it may be, but the culmination of the miniature dramas in the fig orchards combine to create an emotional punch.