As I Open My Eyes

Eighteen-year-old Farah is butting heads with her mother over her all-night, beer-fueled outings with a new boyfriend and her refusal to enroll at medical school so she can pursue her dream of singing in a band. Set in Tunisia in the last months before the 2010 revolution that sparked the Arab Spring, the film is not only a striking portrait of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood, but a deeply insightful look at life under a repressive political regime, with its compromises, commitments, and corrosive effects on personal relationships. Beginner Baya Medhaffar as Farah performs her own vocals in several riveting concert sequences. Click for a more detailed description and trailer.