Halfaouine: Boy of the Terraces

This exotic portrait of life in modern-day Tunisia magnificently looks beyond the oppressive clime of Muslim mores to show a world rich in humor, sensuality, and earthy beauty. Thirteen-year-old Noura (Selim Boughedir) is still young enough to go to the women's baths with his mother, but old enough to enjoy the sights. When Noura is kicked out of the baths for ogling a naked girl, he takes his first step toward manhood. Yet while Noura as a child is able to move deftly between the separate worlds of women and men, the moment he becomes a man, he loses that ability, forced to keep the company of his gender. Writer/director Ferid Boughedir revels in both the pain and joy of that transition, neither judging the traditions of the culture nor promoting them. More than that, Halfaouine is engaging and mischievous; pure entertainment. Highly recommended. (L. Russo)