N. travels from Sub-Saharan Africa through the desert and then by boat to Europe, only to end up stranded in a mysterious forest and be confronted by a silent old man. Both contemporary and surreal...

A film by Ala Eddine Slim

Tunisia / Qatar / Lebanon / United Arab Emirates, 2016, Fiction, 1h34

starring Jaouher Soudani (Jawher Soudani), Fathi Akkari, Jihed Fourti

NOTE OF THE PROGRAMMER (IFFR 2017, Rotterdam)
N. travels from Sub-Saharan Africa through the desert and then by boat to Europe, only to end up stranded in a mysterious forest and be confronted by a silent old man. Both contemporary and surreal, Ala Eddine Slim's film explores the boundaries of man, country, nature and cinema.
Two men walk out of the desert. No, it's not the start of a joke. Having fallen victim to criminals, N. finds himself alone in Tunisia, deserted by the gods. How to reach Europe? He steals a boat and heads out to sea, but the boat sinks. From then on, Ala Eddine Slim's dialogue-free debut turns into a fable-like, surreal journey through an unknown, empty land. It is never made explicit how natural or supernatural the events are. N. hikes over hills and through woods, finally meeting a man who could be an older version of himself.
The Last of Us could show the Platonic ideal of a journey; the timeless odyssey of the refugee; a last vision as N. dies after the sinking of the boat or a mythical search for all those refugees who didn't survive the journey. Like Rithy Panh's search for the missing picture of an immense tragedy in The Missing Picture (2013), Ala Eddine Slim is searching for the missing body.

Countries: Tunisia, Qatar, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates
Year: 2016
Medium: DCP
Duration: 95 min
Language: Arabic
Subtitles: English

Written, Directed and Edited by : Ala Eddine Slim.
1st Assistant Director : Ali Hassouna.
Cinematographer : Amine Messadi.
Sound Engineer (Sound Design): Moncef Taleb.
Set Designer (Production Design): Malek Gnaoui.
Costume Designer : Rahma Ben Thayer.
Make-up Artist : Nadia Ayed.
Music Composer : Tarek Louati.
Sound Mixer : Yazid Chabbi.
VFX : Tarek El Ouaer.
Drawings : Haythem Zakaria.

Executive Producer : Mohamed Ismail Louati.
Production Manager : Chawki Knis.
Producers : Mohamed Ismail Louati - Kamel Laaridhi - Chawki Knis - Ala Eddine Slim.
Associate Producers : Fawzi Djemal - Omar Ben Ali - Ali Hassouna - Amine Messadi - Moncef Taleb.

Production Companies
* Exit Productions
* Inside Productions
* Madbox Studios
* SVP

Sales
* Still Moving

Distribution
HAKKA Distribution (Tunisia)
Potemkine Films (France)

Release:
Tunisia: 05 April 2017 (HAKKA Distribution)
France: 22 August 2018 (Potemkine Films)

2017 | IFFR
Part of: Bright Future
https://iffr.com/en/2017/films/the-last-of-us

______________

NL

N. reist van Sub-Saharaans Afrika door de woestijn en dan per boot naar Europa, om te stranden in een mysterieus woud, waar hij geconfronteerd wordt met een oudere, zwijgende man.

Filmmaker
Ala Eddine Slim

Cast
Jawher Soudani, Fathi Akkari, Jihed Fourti

Productieand(en)
Tunesië, Qatar, Libanon, Verenigde Arabische Emiraten

Productiejaar: 2016
Medium/Formaat: DCP
Lengte: 95
Taal: Arabisch

Producent: Ala Eddine Slim, Mohamed Ismail Louati

Scenario
Ala Eddine Slim

Camera
Amine Messadi

Editor
Ala Eddine Slim

Production Design
Malek Gnaoui

Sound Design
Moncef Taleb

Muziek
Tarek Louati

Productiebedrijf: Exit Production
Sales: Still Moving

2017 | IFFR
* Onderdeel van: Bright Future
https://iffr.com/nl/2017/films/the-last-of-us