Hassine Soufi

The Magic Box

Over forty and in a bit of a midlife crisis, Tunisian film director Raouf is prone to excessive drinking when not engaged in an argument with his French-born wife Lou (Marianne Basler). One respite to Raouf's dreary life is a recent film assignment -- to shoot an autobiographical film about his childhood. While working on the script, Raouf recalls his childhood home life under the strictures instituted by his devoutly religious father. The polar opposite of Raouf's father was his uncle Mansour, a jolly, life-loving soul who introduced Raouf to cinema through his work as a wandering film projectionist, which angered and shocked his father to no end but proved to be the most pivotal development in the youngster's life. Through cinema, Raouf found his place in this world and came-of-age -- something he may have to revisit in his adult life if he wishes to salvage his marriage.

Tangier Cop

Yaasin, a policeman from Tangier who has almost become an alcoholic, spends most of his time in an exclusive brothel. Several characters arrive in the city at the same time: the millionaire Eric Burns; the German woman Eva Miller who, with her little daughter Gudrun, makes herself a living by doing frauds and small thefts; the smart gangster Rustum Wadi who is looking for a talisman that at that moment is in the hands of Andrews, a homosexual British collector. Yaasin is supposed to protect Burns, but when Andrew's corpse appears the case takes an unexpected turn.

A Summer in La Goulette

Summer, 1967. La Goulette, the touristic beach of Tunisi, is the site where three nice seventeen-year-old girls live: Gigi, sicilian and catholic; Meriem, Tunisian and Arab; Tina, French and Jewish. They would like to have their first sexual experience during that summer, challenging their families. Their fathers, Youssef, Jojo and Giuseppe, are old friends and their friendship will be in crisis because of the girls, while Hadj, an old rich Arab, would like to marry Meriem.

Poorly Extinguished Fires

A French army journalist bears witness to the atrocities of the Algerian war in 1962 in this gripping French war movie. It is based on the 1967 novel by Philippe Labro. The film begins in Paris as Jerome Carier, ready to embark to Algiers, is beaten and questioned about the politically sensitive photographs he has. The photos were sent to him by Francois, a friend stationed in Algiers. Francoise is trying to get the French and the Algerians to reconcile. Jerome arrives in the war-torn country and finds himself faced with unbelievable carnage. The French are behind most of it. Because he took the pictures, Francois life is in jeopardy. He is murdered and Jerome finds himself attracted to his girl friend, a radio station announcer. The film contains graphic pictures of the slaughter.

Swallows Never Die in Jerusalem

Both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are sensitively explored in the Tunisian-French drama. Richard, a French TV journalist has been assigned to do a political story in Jerusalem the night before Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat sign their peace accord. Richard is glad to go as it gives him a chance to see his girlfriend Esther, a psychologist. Esther's father Moshe is continually tormented by his Holocaust memories. Hammoudi, nicknamed "Local Radio," is Richard's taxi driver and guide. He tells Richard the story of his family which was uprooted in 1948 resulting in the disappearance of his grandmother. Mysteriously, her picture appeared in a recent Arabic newspaper. Richard, intrigued, decides to center his investigations upon "Local Radio's" story. As he delves deeper into their lives he discovers that the ancient rivalries between the Israeli's and Palestinians is far too deep and complex to be easily explained away.

The Balad of Mamelouk

Mamluk is an unassuming, handsome young peasant who happens to have come along just in time to save the king from a fatal trap, and as a reward, the king offers him the amount of land he can mark off by walking around in one day but he must return to the starting point before sunset.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime.