Under The Fig Trees

Directed by Erige Sehiri
Film Movement
2021
93 Minutes
Tunisia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar
Arabic
Drama, Coming of Age
Middle Eastern Studies, Women Directors, Women's Studies, Social Justice, Labor and Work Issues, African Studies
Not Rated
DVD $29.95
Buy DVD
PPR $200.00
Buy PPR+DVD
DRL $499.00
Buy DRL+DVD
PPR+DRL $599.00
Buy PPR+DRL+DVD
In-home viewers shop here.
Shop Home Video

To submit an order, request a preview screener, or ask a question contact Erin Farrell

On a hot summer morning, a crew of workers arrive at a fig orchard in northwest Tunisia. Through sun-drenched leaves, the youngest of the women steal precious moments of respite away from the foreman’s watchful gaze. Meanwhile, the elders, tasked with the careful job of packing the tender fruit, watch them and reminisce. They joke, argue, gossip and flirt, all the while painting an unhurried but riveting portrait of everyday life in a rural society where class and gender do not allow for personal freedoms.

Set over the course of a single day, utilizing a cast made up of an intergenerational ensemble of non-professional actors, UNDER THE FIG TREES reveals an "elegant, understated tapestry of complex interactions" (The Hollywood Reporter) that demonstrate how the bonds of sisterhood act as a transformative expression of resistance.

Cast

  • Fide Fdhili
  • Feten Fdhili
  • Ameni Fdhili
  • Samar Sifi
  • Leila Ouhebi
  • Hneya Ben Elhedi Sbahi
  • Gaith Mendassi
DVD Features

Discs: 1

  • Highest Rating
    "Sehiri’s film is an elegant, understated tapestry of complex interactions...a pleasurable and immersive experience."
    Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
  • Highest Rating
    "Tunisia’s Oscar submission is a sun-dappled gem focused on a group of teenage girls."
    Manuel Betancourt, Variety
  • Highest Rating
    "A gently appealing choral work from Tunisia with a strong understanding of rhythm and balance that marks a strong first feature for documentary-trained Erige Sehiri."
    Jay Weissberg, The Film Verdict
  • Highest Rating
    "Under the Fig Trees is a big-minded film that grounds its ideas about labor, sexism, faith, and modernity in the zippy rhythms of its characters’ negotiations around friendship, romance, and work."
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture
  • Highest Rating
    "Set over the course of one day, Erige Sehiri’s narrative feature debut Under the Fig Trees is a thoughtful ensemble film about the group of workers in a Tunisian fig orchard."
    Alex Heeney, Seventh Row
  • Highest Rating
    "Sehiri is an intelligent observer of life."
    Kaleem Aftab, Cineuropa
  • Highest Rating
    "[An] engaging depiction of summer flirtations and gentle exploration of sisterhood against a patriarchal backdrop. "
    Amber Wilkinson, Screen Daily
  • Highest Rating
    "[L]ove comes up again and again in Erige Sehiri’s enchanting debut, a romantic roundelay on par with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”...."
    Stephen Saito, The Moveable Fest
  • Highest Rating
    "A minimalism to it all, a simplicity that speaks not of a lack of sophistication but of a commitment to form, to feel. The stories that bloom here are rooted in the real, jacketed in the bruised flesh of familiar harms."
    Andrew Robertson, Eye for Film
  • Highest Rating
    "[A] beguiling, sun-dappled drama...."
    Wendy Ide, Observer
  • Highest Rating
    "The film's naturalism flows like a gentle summer's breeze."
    Marina Ashioti, Little White Lies
  • Highest Rating
    "As delicate and enticing as freshly-picked ripe fruit...."
    J Paul Johnson, Film Obsessive
  • Highest Rating
    "Faces and fruits flourish in the resplendent Tunisian ensemble piece “Under the Fig Trees,” from French-born director Erige Sehiri, which maps the interpersonal relationships, mostly romantic ones, among the men and women informally hired to harvest figs by hand over the course of a single workday. [A] delicate storytelling feat...."
    Carlos Aguilar, RogerEbert.com

Gallery

Awards & Recognition

You May Also Like...