As I Open My Eyes

The Arab Spring brought brief periods of optimism to the Middle East, followed in most cases by violent government oppression and staggering tragedy. The world knows what happened in Iran, Egypt, and Syria, but less perhaps about Tunisia. Set in 2010, As I Open My Eyes is an effective drama about the collision between youthful rebellion and the intolerant government of Tunisia's then-president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Farah (Baya Medhaffar), barely out of her teens, is on the threshold of entering medical school when her attention begins to drift toward more freewheeling pursuits such as furtive sex with a boyfriend and singing original political protest songs in a band. While her generally understanding father is mostly away from home dealing with unrest at a phosphate mine, Farah's mother, Hayet (Ghalia Benali), frets over her previously cooperative daughter's increasing willingness to provoke authority. Most of the film concerns this tug-of-war between generations of women, but the twist in co-writer and director Leyla Bouzid's taut drama is that the viewer easily intuits that Hayet was once like Farah. Offering an absorbing cinematic window onto another moment of revolutionary hope that turned to horror during the Arab Spring, this is recommended. (T. Keogh)