Who Do I Belong To

Meryam Joobeur – Tunisia, France, Canada 2024 – 117 minutes – spoken language: Arabic, with English subtitles

In northern Tunisia, Aïcha’s maternal love is tested when her eldest son, Mehdi, unexpectedly returns from fighting in Syria. Using a unique visual language with out-of-focus close-ups and a dreamlike color palette, Joobeur’s mature and poetic debut delves into the generational whiplash and familial trauma caused by war. With impressive performances, the film leaves much for the viewer to decipher.

Prior to the main movie we will show the short film Weeds by Pola Kazak (14 minutes): The mindful process of gardening is turned upside down in this artisanal parable about migration and xenophobia.

About Sprouts Film Festival:
“In times of a glitching world, with weather extremes and inhumane conflicts intensifying, it can be tempting to avert your gaze. Instead, Sprouts wants to make the cinema a site for peaceful protest by showing newly released ecocinema and socially critical debut films. All selected features and shorts are fiction, because it is our belief that through the power of imagination we can alter our behaviour for the better and rethink our relationship with the more-than-human world. We are here to make you wonder, to inform, to spark resistance and to nurture fresh talent.”