Four years after landing an Oscar nomination with his short film BrotherhoodMontreal director Meryam Joobeur signs her first feature film, Where we come fromin which she examines the impact of Islamic extremism on a Tunisian family.
This delicate subject of radicalization, Meryam Joobeur had already addressed it in Brotherhoodwhich told the story of a Tunisian shepherd shaken by the return of his son from Syria.
Where we come from, which was presented in official competition at the Berlinale last February, revisits essentially the same plot – and with the same actors – but telling it this time from the point of view of the mother of two young men who left for jihad in Syria.
When one of her two sons returns home with a mysterious woman, the mother will be torn between her maternal love and her need for the truth.
“The idea [du long métrage] came to me when I was shooting the short film,” explains Meryam Joobeur in an interview given by videoconference.
“I was interested in further developing the female character because the short film took more of the point of view of a father who was unable to see the good in his child. By exploring the character of the mother, I show the other side of the coin by presenting a parent who has difficulty seeing the dark side of her son.
Pierre-Paul Poulin / JdeM
Of Tunisian origin, Meryam Joobeur has been wondering about the phenomenon of radicalization for several years.
“It’s a problem that is very present in Tunisia, but that we also find everywhere in the world,” she insists. Even in Canada and England, there are young men joining Daesh [l’État islamique] every year. What is their motivation? Why do they do this? It’s a universal question that has been with me for a long time and which resonates with everything that’s happening in the world today.”
Released in 2018, the short film Brotherhood has toured the world and won more than 75 awards at international festivals. According to Meryam Joobeur, the film’s nomination for the Oscars in 2020 gave her team a good boost to get the feature film project underway.
“It gave us great visibility, that’s for sure. The institutions also supported us a lot. But it was still a big challenge to shoot the film,” she concludes.
Where we come from, showing on 1is November.
