Alex Pitstra |Netherlands| 2013 | 80' |English, German, Arabic | English subtitles
Dutch-Tunisian Alex Pitstra's debut Die Welt is an audacious semi-autobiographical mix of fiction and documentary. It is set in Tunisia shortly after the Jasmine Revolution of 2010-2011, when the country was facing the challenge of transformation from dictatorship to democracy.
Life doesn't seem very promising for DVD salesman Abdallah. He travels to the seaside resort of Sousse to attend a wedding and meets Dutch tourists Anna and José. The two women would love to see the 'real' Tunisia and accept Abdallah's invitation to come to the wedding party. Eventually Abdallah spends the night with Anna. He decides that he wouldn't mind being with her in Europe, that part of the world, which his father, who once lived and worked there, always calls Die Welt. When Abdallah loses his job, his desire to make the jump only increases. He longs to be independent, which just isn't possible in Tunisia.
In Die Welt Pitstra investigates his own Tunisian roots, as his father is originally from Tunisia. Until recently he hadn't dwelled much on this part of his family history. The result is an almost mesmerizing view on everyday life in present-day Tunisia, seen through the eyes of a Western outsider.
Director Alex Pitstra will be present for a Q&A after the screening.
Rialto: screened from the 22th of August