La source des femmes (2011)

A comedy/drama set in a village and centered on a battle of the sexes, where women threaten to withhold sexual favors if their men refuse to fetch water from a remote well.

Director:

Radu Mihaileanu

Writers:

Radu Mihaileanu (scenario), Alain-Michel Blanc (scenario)

Stars:

Leïla Bekhti, Hafsia Herzi, Hiam Abbass

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leïla Bekhti	...	Leila
Hafsia Herzi	...	Loubna / Esmeralda
Hiam Abbass	...	Fatima
Saleh Bakri	...	Sami
Biyouna	...	Vieux Fusil
Sabrina Ouazani	...	Rachida
Karim Leklou	...	Karim
Mohamed Majd	...	Hussein
Mohamed Tsouli	...	L'imam
Omar Azzouzi	...	Le cheikh
Saad Tsouli	...	Mohamed
Amal Chakir	...	Khadija
Amina Boussaif	...	Nawale
Nadia Zaoui	...	Yasmina
Farida Bouaazaoui	...	Karima

Storyline

In a remote and primitive patriarchal village between the North of Africa and the Middle East, the land has dried and the women traditionally bring water from a distant fountain to their houses while the idle husbands drink tea in the bar. The educated Leïla, who is the wife of the local teacher Sami, begins a sex strike movement among the women, supported by the elder Vieux Fusil (meaning old flintlock), to force the men to bring water to the village. They must face the strong reaction of the brutal men.

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Plot Keywords:

woman | water | village | well | sex strike | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Europa Corp. [France]

Country:

France Belgium Italy

Language:

Arabic

Release Date:

2 November 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

A Fonte das Mulheres

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elzévir Films,Oï Oï Oï Productions,EuropaCorp

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min 120 min (UK)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The basic premise of the plot, the withholding of sexual relations by women to force their menfolk to do something, is first noted in the play, 'Lysistrata' by Aristophanes. Several versions of "Lysistrata" have been filmed for cinemas and television, with the most recent being Chi-Raq (2015) by Spike Lee.

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Soundtracks

Essawa - musique soufi de Meknes
Traditional

User Reviews

Not as good as I was expecting

Maybe the problem was to read about the movie before watching it. But I really was disappointed. I admit that my expectations were high. I found the story too linear. The kind of movie that you know how it ends at the first 15 minutes. The subject is interesting. If it was treated with more creativity, would be a less boring movie. I think when you are making a movie and thinking about how to teach people from a different culture how to think, is not an easy task. But still it is a good attempt to bring to the screen this kind of subject, at least people will talk about it. I do not know how accurately what he shows in this movie reflects the reality on those countries, but I hope people from those countries take the example that the movie give to them.