Dunya & Desie (2008)

The story of two 18-year old best friends who grew up together in the suburbs of Amsterdam. Dunya is Moroccan, grown up with Ramadan, imams and Mecca. Desie is as Dutch as cheese and tulips... See full summary »

Director:

Dana Nechushtan

Writer:

Robert Alberdingk Thijm

Stars:

Maryam Hassouni, Eva van de Wijdeven, Alix Adams

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Maryam Hassouni	...	Dunya El-Beneni
Eva van de Wijdeven	...	Desie Koppenol
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alix Adams	...	Mrs. Schakel
Ilias Addab	...	Samir
Mahjoub Benmoussa	...	Nabil El-Beneni
Tygo Gernandt	...	Pim
Micha Hulshof	...	Maik
Rachida Iaallala	...	Kenza El-Beneni
Nezha Karim
Philipp Keese
Theo Maassen	...	Jeff Schouten
Marcel Musters	...	Hans Schakel
Iliass Ojja	...	Souffian 'Zoef' El-Beneni
Ahmed Salah	...	Dunya's grandfather
Habiba Tribou	...	(as Habibi Triboe)

Storyline

The story of two 18-year old best friends who grew up together in the suburbs of Amsterdam. Dunya is Moroccan, grown up with Ramadan, imams and Mecca. Desie is as Dutch as cheese and tulips. On her 18th birthday Dunya is told that her family would like her to marry a second cousin from Morocco. She shall meet him during the family's holiday in Morocco but she's not looking forward to it. Desie, who has recently begun taking driving lessons, unexpectedly gets pregnant from her driving instructor. He breaks up with her instantly and says it's up to Desie to solve this. Desie want to look for her biological father. When appears that her father lives in Morocco, Dunya and Desie decide to go and look for him together. But Morocco is not Amsterdam, and together they get entangled in a road trip that takes them through the country of Morroco; from the big cities, through the deserts, into the mountains, where they get into exciting and hilarious situations. In the end they have to make some ...

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Plot Keywords:

morocco | based on tv series | cultural difference | multicultural | puberty | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official site [Netherlands]

Country:

Netherlands Belgium

Language:

Dutch Arabic

Release Date:

16 April 2008 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Dunya & Desie in Marokko

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lemming Film, Nederlandse Programma Stichting (NPS), A Private View

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 98 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mahjoub Benmoussa takes over the role of Nabil El-Beneni, played by Karim Mounir in Dunya en Desie.

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Goofs

In the bar, Desie's right earring falls off and a few moments later mysteriously reappears on her ear.

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Quotes

[Desie is holding her pregnancy test]
Desie Koppenol: How much longer?
Dunya El-Beneni: One minute...
[Desie sighs and starts shaking the stick to speed up the process]
Dunya El-Beneni: It's not a polaroid!

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Connections

Follows Dunya en Desie (2002)

User Reviews

Does this world really exist?

This movie shows a friendship between a promiscuous Dutch girl and a Moroccan second generation immigrant developing towards adulthood. Although the fortune teller is a no-go in terms of story telling in my book, she does quite accurately describe what is going on; two close friends finding out about what defines the meaning of their lives. One fleeing it, the other seeking.

Although sometimes overshadowed by the beauty of Hassouni, van Wijdeven takes the cake when it comes to acting. In fact she might very well be the one who gives this movie its soul.

One question that is bothering me is the one from the title of this comment. If there is a central theme to this story, it is one of hope about mutual respect between two cultures that have been clashing rampantly in the Netherlands. I am happy to admit that this hopeful message is what almost brought me to tears in the end.

I hope to once see a Netherlands like this with my own eyes.