User:Sarahpituwala/sandbox/Les Frontières du Ciel (Shababeek El Jana) (شبابك الجنة) - Borders of Heaven

Les Frontières du Ciel (Shababeek El Jana) (شبابك الجنة) - Borders of Heaven

Les Frontières du Ciel (Shababeek El Jana) (شبابك الجنة) - Borders of Heaven, is a 2015 Tunisian drama/romance film. Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Fares Naanaa, this is his first full-length production. This film illustrates the story of a father and a mother's struggle after they lost their 5-year-old daughter to a drowning accident. As well as the father's internal stuggle of accepting himself and not making the same mistake his father did (waling out on his mother).

Plot
Sarah and Sami were a happy Tunisian couple with a 5year old daughter Yasmine.

They had a normal life until one day their worst nightmare become a reality. as they were having a brunch with the rest of the family, Yasmine asked to leave home but the adults were still not done chatting and eating so Sami (her father) proposed to go play by the sea shore (which she did). Sarah comes from a good family and finances have never been a problem for her. Sami refuses to be with his wife intimately because of what he has done.

After the accident, they both developed bad habits: Sami became an alcoholic and kept blaming himself for what had happened. He isn’t able to be the happy and humorous person he once was, That part of him is dying along with his daughter. He does things he would have never done before such as cheat on his wife, lose in touch with religion, respect forward others. He basically became a mess. Meanwhile, Sarah starts taking pills and pain killers to stop feeling. We get to know Sami’s back story and why his daughter meant to him and why he was affected by her loss and the guilt he feels. He was a bastard (a child born out of marriage). In addition, we see how strong of a relationship he has with his mother. (the importance of a motherly figure in everyone’s life) Sami find closure with his daughter’s death once he finally meets his father.

Cast

 * Lotfi Abdelli as Sami
 * Anissa Daoud as Sara
 * Mouna Noureddine as Sami’s Mother
 * Sophie Ghodhbane as Yasmin (Sami and Sara’s daughter)
 * Chekra Rammeh as Sara’s sister
 * Issa Harrath as Sami’s Uncle
 * Martine Gafsi as Sara’s Mother
 * Abdelghani Ben Tara as Sara’s Father
 * Aymen Mabrouk as Sami’s Cousin

Production
This film was produced by Habib Attia, a Tunisian filmmaker, with the help from Cinetelefilms, one of the leading production companies in Tunisia and The Arab World (Tunisia). In co-producer, it was associated with Icflix production, a Middle East and North Africa streaming and VoD platform (similar to Netflix in the USA). This film was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Culture (Enjaaz Fund) as well as the Dubai Film Market which is a branch subbranch of the Dubai International Film Festival that supports new upcoming independent films. Lastly, this film was supported by International Organisation of La Francophonie which represents countries and regions where the French language is the first or customary langue. It also intervenes when there is a significant affiliation with French culture and customs.

Director: Fares Naanaa.

Release
This film first premiered on November 24, 2015, at the JCC, Carthage Film Festival 2015, in Tunisia. Then its second release was during the 12th editing of the Dubai International Film Festival in December 2015, in United Arab Emirates.

Awards

 * Lotfi Abdelli won Best Actor Award, Dubai International Film Festival, 2015

Nominations
 * Fares Naanaa nominated for Best Fiction Feature Award, Dubai International Film Festival, 2015

Online platforms
You can watch the trailer on this link posted by the Dubai International Film Festival Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPZLc2nfDLE . And you can watch the full-length production on the online VoD platform, Icflix, on this link:http://www.icflix.com/eng/movie/zhcox807-borders-of-heaven. You ave to pay a monthly subscription to access this platform (you have the first 3 months free).