Bedwin Hacker

Underneath layers of campy queer glances, a story about cross-border solidarity struggles emerges in the only fiction feature film from the documentary filmmaker. The boundaries of the nation state are blurred as Kalt and her friends move between France and Tunisia, hijacking TV signals to broadcast messages of liberation. As they move between these places, the wide, Bedouin landscapes of Tunisia are bathed in warm tones of orange and presented in stark contrast to early-aughts Paris, shiny, cold and metallic. In an age of surveillance capitalism and unrelenting border violence in Europe, the struggles mediated through this film remain ever-present and relevant. Yet against this backdrop there is abundant pleasure to be found in the film’s love triangles, y2k aesthetic and bouncy electronic soundtrack. (Myriam Mouflih)

Nadia El Fani (نادية الفاني; b. 1960 in Paris), is a French-Tunisian director, screenwriter and producer working primarily on documentaries about human rights, women’s rights and secularism. She began working in cinema as an intern on the film Misunderstood (1984), shot in Tunisia, before becoming an assistant director with filmmakers including Roman Polanski, Nouri Bouzid and Franco Zeffirelli. In 1990, she directed her first short film and created her first video production company before relocating to Paris in 2002 during the making of her debut feature, Bedwin Hacker (2003). Thereafter she directed several documentaries, including Même pas mal (2012) in which she compares her struggle with breast cancer to the political battle against Islamic fundamentalism.

Nos seins, nos armes ! (Our Breasts, Our Weapons!) (2013), Même pas mal (It Doesn’t Even Hurt) (2012), Ni Allah ni Maître (Neither Allah nor Master) (2011), Ouled Lenine (Lenin’s Children) (2007), 2005: Unissez-vous, il n’est jamais trop tard ! (Unite, It’s Never Too Late! – for the short film series Paris la métisse, The Mixed Paris) (2005), Bedwin Hacker (Bedouin Hacker) (2003), Tant qu’il y aura de la pelloche (As Long As There Is Film) (1998), Tanitez-moi (1993), Femmes Leader du Maghreb (Women Leader of the Maghreb) (1993), Fifty-fifty mon amour (Fifty-fifty My Love) (1992), Pour le plaisir (For the Pleasure) (1990)