As I Open My Eyes
NYT Critic's Picks • 1h 42m
Leyla Bouzid • 2015 • Tunisia
Farah struggles to pursue her singing career during a revolution.
While her parents have traditional aspirations for her, Farah is spending her summer performing in a political rock band, while carrying out a clandestine affair with one of her bandmates.
Set in the months leading up to Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution, As I Open My Eyes focalizes the stakes of the Arab Spring through a nuanced account of one young woman's search for freedom. Leyla Bouzid's feature debut premiered at the Venice Film Festival's Giornate degli Autori, where it won the Label Europa Cinemas Award. The third Tunisian film ever to be submitted for the Oscars, As I Open My Eyes is a New York Times Critics' Pick.
Up Next in NYT Critic's Picks
-
Barbara
Christian Petzold • 2012 • Germany
Steeped in the life in former GDR, a woman is torn between two worlds.
Barbara Wolff arrives in a small town in East Germany, having been transferred from Berlin's prestigious Chari...
-
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice...
Pamela B. Green • United States • 2018 • A fascinating profile of a lost pioneer of early cinema.
Alice Guy-Blaché entered the film business in 1894, at the age of 21. By 23 she was installed as head of production at French company Gaumont and directed several films before moving to the United ...
-
Bikes vs Cars
Fredrik Gertten • Sweden • 2015 • An argument against the automobile.
A battle is being waged for the soul of the road. In cities across the globe, inefficient transportation reigns supreme—humans commute in car...
