

Leyla Bouzid


As I Open My Eyes

Tunisia, France, Belgium, United Arab Emirates   
Producer: Sandra Da Fonseca, Imed Marzouk, Anthony Rey, Nathalie Mesuret and Bertrand Gore
Production Company: Blue Monday Productions, Propaganda Production and Hélicotronc
Language: Arabic l English & French Subtitles
Total Budget: 899,237 USD
Duration: 102 minutes
Cinematographer: Sébastien Goepfert
Screenwriter: Leyla Bouzid and Marie-Sophie Chambon
Editor: Lilian Corbeille
Music: Khyam Allami
Sound Design: Ludovic Van Pachterbeke and Rémi Gérard
Cast: Baya Medhaffer (Farah), Ghalia Benali (Hayet), Montassar Ayari (Borhène), Aymen Omrani (Ali) and Lassaad Jamoussi (Mahmoud)

Project Synopsis:

Set in Tunis a few months before the Revolution, 18 year old Farah has just graduated, with her family already expecting her to become a doctor. Farah sees things differently - she sings in a political rock band, lives life with passion, gets drunk, discovers love, and explores the city by night, against her mother’s will, who knows Tunisia and its dangers too well.

Leyla was born in 1984 and grew up in Tunis, before moving to Paris in 2003 to study French Literature and Film Direction. Her graduation film, “Soubresauts (Mkhobbi Fi Kobba)”, was shot in Tunisia a few months before the revolution, and her first short film “Zakaria” was filmed in the South of France. Both films received a total of 60 selections and 12 awards. “As I Open My Eyes” is her first feature film.