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Under the Fig Leaves Lets Its Women Talk Back
The Tunisian film is a beautifully shot exploration of love, life, and labor.
Don’t let that fool you, though: Under the Fig Tree s 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. Each day, orchard manager Saber (Fedi Ben Achour) — referred to as “Boss” by everyone, even employees decades older than him — loads his pickup truck full of workers (all of them either teenagers or elderly) and drives them to the land he’s renting. In that bathroom, Sehiri drops out the sound as Fidé, Melek, Sana, and Mariem share lipstick and blush, pull mirrors out of their socks and hold them to each others’ faces, and take selfies over and over again.
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