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, Christine van Stralen

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maryam Hassouni	...	Dunya El-Beneni
Eva van de Wijdeven	...	Desie Koppenol
Christine van Stralen	...	Monique Koppenol
Theo Maassen	...	Jeff Schouten
Rachida Iaallala	...	Kenza El-Beneni
Mahjoub Benmoussa	...	Nabil El-Beneni
Iliass Ojja	...	Soufian El-Beneni
Ilias Addab	...	Samir
Tygo Gernandt	...	Pim
Micha Hulshof	...	Maik
Ingrid Weisgerber	...	Klant Kapper
Saskia Rinsma	...	Huisarts
Ferdi Stofmeel	...	Verpleger
Rhimo Aguidi	...	Oma Dunya
Mohemed Salwan	...	Opa Dunya

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:

character names as title | forenames as title | three word title | morocco | f rated | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Mahjoub Benmoussa takes over the role of Nabil El-Beneni, played by Karim Mounir in Dunya en Desie (2002).

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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 Koppenol: I think my period is late...
Dunya El-Beneni: What?
Desie Koppenol: Yeah... funny huh... But it doesn't have to mean anything, I mean some people are late because of stress.
Dunya El-Beneni: Are you stressed then?
Desie Koppenol: Yeah, now I am!

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Connections

Referenced in Op de set van 'Dunya en Desie' (2008)

User Reviews

Predictable but Entertaining

Dunya & Desie threads a path already taken by many other films, arguably more successfully. The central theme is that of the cultural differences between different generation of immigrants. In this case the immigrants are a family of Muslim Moroccons living in Holland. Their daughter Dunya's best friend is Desie, a very liberated and promiscuous girl. Dunya's mother is horrified by Desie's behavior and forbids Dunya from associating with her. The story, and the film, only comes alive when Dunya goes back with her family to Morroco to meet a cousin whom Dunya's parents have arranged for her to marry and Desie follows her to find her own father who also lives in Morrocco.

While Dunya & Desie does not break any new ground, it is nevertheless very entertaining and full of lighthearted moments. It has a very capable cast and should particularly go down well with teenagers.

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

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,184,787

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1