Professor

Friday 11/07 at St. Anthony Main Theatre 5:30pm | get tickets >>>

Synopsis:
In 2011, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was deposed by the uprisings of the Arab Spring. In the late 1970s, he had been appointed General Director of National Security, a position that would pave the way to his presidency. The film Professor occurs at this moment, and in many ways parallels the future uprisings. The protagonist is professor Khalil Kalsaoui, who is appointed chair of the Tunisian Human Rights League. However, trouble soon arises for the professor, and he is forced to deal with his extra-marital activities while making difficult decisions about his past political principles, as they might conflict with his new government position. The result is a thoughtful, captivating drama with a compelling central performance.

2012
92 minutes
Narrative feature
Directed by: Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud
Language: Arabic /French
Country: Tunisia/Qatar/France
Trailer

“… this Tunisia-France-Qatar co-production is a universal human story that trains a critical eye on recent history in a similar manner to Chile’s Pablo Larrain, the renowned Greek director Costa-Gavras, or even the brave social commentators in current Iranian cinema.” (link)

Festivals and Awards:
-Doha Tribeca Film Festival: winner of Best Performance for Ahmed Hafiane
Arab Feature Narrative competition
-Carthage Film Festival: winner of Best Screenplay for Mahmound Ben Mahmoud
Official competition feature films

Filmmaker bio (from Doha Film Institute):
Born in 1947, Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud studied cinema in Belgium in the 1970s. His films include the music documentary Les Mille et Une Voix (2000) and three features: Traversées (1982), ChichKhan (1992), and Les Siestes Grenadine, which won the Special Jury Prize in Turin in 1999. He currently teaches screenwriting at the Université Libre in Brussels.