– BERLINALE 2026: Leyla Bouzid delivers a sophisticated feature film revolving around an intimate, chiaroscuro investigation into a Tunisian family and their secrets, lies and things left unsaid
Eya Bouteraa and Hiam Abbass in In a Whisper
“It was only ever going to end badly. We’re cursed here.” Following in the wake of a 32-year-old engineer living in France and returning to her Tunisian family in Sousse for the funeral of an uncle whose death is raising all kinds of carefully sidestepped questions, Leyla Bouzid has decided to expertly unpick the stubborn knots of the past and the censorship and self-censorship which have ruined countless lives and which are still impeding spontaneous self-expression in the present.
With In a Whisper, unveiled in the 76th Berlinale, the director who previously turned multiple heads with As I Open My Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leyla Bouzid
film profile] (2015) and A Tale of Love and Desire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (2021) doesn’t just shine a light on a societal issue in the context of a Tunisian penal code which still sees homosexuality as a crime. Using a female-perspective story, based on a screenplay with a calmly and artfully adjusted pace and homing in on private worlds and allusive family interactions, the film also plays masterfully with underlying tensions and subjective memories, opening up inner doors and windows onto all the characters’ darker sides, as well as their misunderstandings, stumbling blocks and resulting decisions.
“I thought his eyes would turn me to stone, but I looked at him anyway, I loved the feeling of danger, as if I was totally giving myself over to it.” As she returns to her middle-class childhood home immersed in mourning rituals, Lilia (the newly unearthed Eya Bouteraa) relives her memories of her Uncle Daly (Karim Rmadi) whose homosexuality was no secret to the women of the house (“if you know, everyone knows”), namely matriarch Néfissa (Salma Baccar) and the two sisters, Wahida (Hiam Abbass) and Hayet (Feriel Chamari). But everything possible has been done to keep up appearances (an arranged marriage, notably) and Daly’s unsettling death shouldn’t make waves (“leave the dead in peace”), despite police attempts to shed light on its circumstances. This reflex to sweep things under the carpet doesn’t impress Lilia, not least because she herself lives with a woman called Alice (Marion Barbeau) who has travelled home with her and who’s staying in a hotel. She subsequently throws herself into a small-scale personal investigation which will bring her face to face with her lies, her own view of love and with her mother, Wahida…
Over the course of six days, from the uncle’s burial to the second “Fark”, the story patiently explores the different nested levels of this silent storm. Between shared secrets, looks, newly discovered letters which were never sent, fragmented explanations, insinuations, fears, and suddenly resolved misunderstandings, In a Whisper dissects a painful, thwarted destiny in the light of Lilia’s dreams of fulfilment which will require a considerable dose of courage to realise. The film gently and intelligently picks apart the complex nature of the simplest feelings in a microcosm governed by repressive laws which work to make difference invisible. It’s a brilliantly acted and compassionate in vivo study which Leyla Bouzid delivers in an attractive chiaroscuro style (with Sébastien Goepfert heading up photography). Elegantly restrained so as not to overshadow the heart of the story, the film is nonetheless audacious at moments (notably boasting shots blending the past and the present in a single image). It’s a well-observed level of “modesty”, which is perfectly in line with a film which speaks volumes with great sensitivity and with remarkable economy of means.
In a Whisper was produced by French firm Unité in co-production with Tunisia’s Cinétéléfilms. Playtime are steering international sales.
(Translated from French)
