This film explores the impact of the modern world on the traditional male society of the Maghreb. It is a film about men who prefer to live life as an abstract game and the free-spirited woman who changes everything. Said and Youssef have fulfilled a life-long dream by opening a "chess bar" in the middle of the desert. They sit around drinking palm wine, playing board games and composing love poetry to imaginary women. All this changes with the arrival of Sarah, a sexually liberated, uninhibited metisse who easily lures Youssef into an affair. Soon he is dreaming not about chess but about opening a coffee bar in Genoa. The friendship is destroyed, the bar sold. Youssef, dressed in Western clothes, waits to leave with Sarah; will she show up? Said boards a train and sits down next to a Westernized woman bearing a resemblance to Sarah
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Cast
13 people
Abderrahmane Sissako Director · Youssef Ben Youssef Cinematographer
First release January 1, 1997 · Produced in Tunisia
Production
Nomadis Images
Production
Tunisia
Produced in
Languages
Original language
Arabic
Spoken on screen
Arabic
Release dates
South Africa · January 1, 1997
Tunisia · February 1, 1997
Theatrical
No release date listed for United States.
United Kingdom
December 2, 2008 · London African Film Festival
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