''Arab Blues'' () is a 2019 French-Tunisian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Manele Labidi Labbé in her feature debut. It was screened in the

Venice Days The Giornate degli Autori (; 'Authors' Days') or simply the Giornate, formerly also known in English as Venice Days, is an independent section of Venice Film Festival. Anac and 100autori are engaged to support and promote the Giornate. It was fou ...

section at the

2019 Venice Film Festival The 76th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2019, at Venice Lido in Italy. Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel was the jury president for the main competition. Alessandra Mastronardi hosted the ...

and then in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

. The film is about a Tunisian

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...

Selma who, after having been educated in

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, moves back to Tunisia to open a psychoanalytic practice.

Cast

Golshifteh Farahani Rahavard Farahani (; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (), is an Iranian and French actress. She is known for her performances in '' M for Mother'' (2006), '' Body of Lies'' (2008), ''About Elly'' (2009), ''The Pat ...

as Selma *

Hichem Yacoubi Hichem Yacoubi (born 4 April 1964 in Tunis, Tunisia) is a Tunisian-born French actor who had a role in the film '' A Prophet'' (in French ''Un prophète'') (2009) directed by Jacques Audiard Jacques Audiard (; born 30 April 1952) is a French ...

as Raouf * Moncef Anjegui as Mourad *

Majd Mastoura Majd Mastoura (Arabic: مجد مستورة) is a Tunisian film actor and translator. At the 66th Berlin International Film Festival he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for his role in the film '' Hedi''. Early life and education Majd Masto ...

as Naim

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

76th Venice International Film Festival The 76th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2019, at Venice Lido in Italy. Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel was the jury president for the main competition. Alessandra Mastronardi hosted the ...

, during the

, on 4 September 2019. Its North American debut was in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the

on 8 September 2019.

Reception

Box office

''Arab Blues'' grossed $3.7 million worldwide, against a production budget of about $2.4 million.

Critical response

On French

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, the film holds an average rating of 3.7 out of 5, based on 24 critics' reviews.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arab Blues 2019 films 2019 comedy films 2019 directorial debut films French comedy films 2010s Arabic-language films 2010s French-language films Films about psychoanalysis Films set in Tunisia Tunisian comedy films 2019 multilingual films French multilingual films Tunisian multilingual films 2010s French films Arabic-language comedy films French-language comedy films Films by French women directors Films by Tunisian women directors