PrémiosAwards
Prémio Nakheel Melhor Filme – Toronto Arab Film Festival, Canadá | Prémio Geração,  Galway Film Fleadh, Irlanda

Festivais Festivals
Estreia Sundance Film Festival, EUA
Mooov Film Festival, Bélgica | TIFF Next Wave Film Festival, Canadá | Shanghai International Film Festival, China | Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival, EUA  | San Francisco International Film Festival, EUA | Rotterdam International Film Festival, Países Baixos | Transilvania International Film Festival, Roménia | Istanbul International Film Festival, Turquia

Director’s Statement
WHERE THE WIND COMES FROM was born out of the need to raise the issues of Tunisian youth. I wanted to talk about a youth plagued by the lack of jobs, infrastructure and culture, a generation that sees emigration as the only solution for a brighter future. Alyssa and Mehdi, 19 and 23 respectively, have no money and are suffocated by a heavy family and professional daily life. WHERE THE WIND COMES FROM depicts the harsh reality of these two best friends. However, I had no desire to write a social drama both dark and hard to grasp. It was very crucial for me to write a dramatic comedy, a sunny road trip, where the often-serious topics are treated poetically and with humor. This is the challenge of the film: to find lightness in times of disarray. Above all, this movie is a friendship story. I wanted to talk about a deeply connected friendship between a man and a woman without ever involving a romantic or sexual dimension to it. All over the world, but especially in the Arab world, we separate genders. Here, I make a point of mixing roles, inventing a courageous female character and a sensitive male character, without these being their only traits. Alyssa and Mehdi personalities and dialogues set the tone and bring lightness to the film. They are connected by a strong bond and an overflowing imagination. Indeed to escape his harsh routine, Mehdi spends his days drawing surrealistic images related to stories he tells his friend. Alyssa is inspired by those drawings and stories to recreate her reality and escape uncomfortable situations. Without specific editing or calibration changes, Alyssa’s imagination takes place in the narrative. All these elements bring to the film a surreal and poetic side that contrasts with the topics. “If we can’t even dream, what’s left for us” asks Alyssa. This might as well be a saying that summarizes the film. It also sums me up. Much like the characters, I escape my problems by immersing myself in my imagination. And that what I wanted to transmit via this film. This outlet, this emergency exit that every human being has, whatever their social background, whatever their level of education, allows us to stand the reality of our lives when it seems too dark. WHERE THE WIND COMES FROM is Alyssa and Mehdi’s story, their road trip, their odyssey through Tunisia. This Tunisia will show them the best and the worst of what it contains.
– Amel Guellaty 

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