DOCU/WORLD

Machtat

Year
2023
Country
Lebanon
Duration
83’
Director
Sonia Ben Slama

Fatma and her two daughters, Najeh and Waffeh, are machtat, wedding musicians in Mahdia, a small city in Tunisia. The sisters follow opposite paths: while Najeh, divorced, tries to remarry to escape the

authority of her brothers, Waffeh wishes to divorce her violent husband. And Fatma navigates between the two, praying that things will go better one day.

CREW:
Director: Sonia Ben Slama
Producer: Tania El Khoury, Cécile Lestrade, Elise Hug
Cinematographer: Evgenia Alexandrova
Sound: Soussen Tatah (sound), Rana Eid (sound design)
Production
Khamsin Films, Alter Ego Production Co-producer: Lyon Capital TV
Sales:
Tania El Khoury Khamsin Films [email protected]
Awards
Golden Star for the Best Arab Documentary Film at the El Gouna Film Festival
Director
Sonia Ben Slama

Sonia Ben Slama is a French-Tunisian documentary filmmaker. She grew up in Paris where she studied art and cinema at the University Sorbonne-Nouvelle.

In 2015, she directed in Tunisia her first feature documentary Maktoub. The film tells the story of her grandmother’s marriage 70 years ago in a small Tunisian town and her cousin’s wedding nowadays in the very same place. Machtat, her second film, is in the continuity of Maktoub and explores similar themes from a different angle. From the point of view of three female wedding singers, the film raises the issue of marriages and rules for women in a patriarchal society. The film is premiering in the International Competition at Visions du Réel Film Festival 2023. It’s also part of the ACID Cannes 2023 program. Sonia is currently developing a new feature-length documentary project, 316 North Main Street, shot in the United States.

Selected Filmography
Maktoub (2015)
Hall «KINOMAN»
Zhovten cinema
Kostiantynivska St, 26
Q&A
Original language with Ukrainian and English subtitles
By tickets
Adapted subtitles
Tuesday
04 June 2024
20:10
Hall «ANSHLAG»
Zhovten cinema
Kostiantynivska St, 26
Original language with Ukrainian and English subtitles
By tickets
Adapted subtitles
Wednesday
05 June 2024
13:30
22 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
 6 — 13 
June 2025
Grasshopper Republic
DOCU/WORLD
Grasshopper Republic
Year
2023
Country
USA, Uganda
Director
Daniel McCabe
Duration
94’
DOCU/WORLD
A Golden Life
DOCU/WORLD
A Golden Life
Year
2023
Country
Burkina Faso, Benin, France
Director
Boubacar Sangaré
Duration
83’
DOCU/WORLD
Knit’s Island
DOCU/WORLD
Knit’s Island
Year
2023
Country
France
Directors
Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L’helgoualc’h
Duration
95’
DOCU/WORLD
Rowdy Girl
DOCU/WORLD
Rowdy Girl
Year
2023
Country
USA
Director
Jason Goldman
Duration
72’
DOCU/WORLD
Body
DOCU/WORLD
Body
Year
2023
Country
Slovenia, Croatia, North Macedonia
Director
Petra Seliškar
Duration
91’
DOCU/WORLD
Magic Mountain
DOCU/WORLD
Magic Mountain
Year
2023
Country
Georgia, Poland
Directors
Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt
Duration
74’
DOCU/WORLD
The World According to My Dad
DOCU/WORLD
The World According to My Dad
Year
2023
Country
Czech Republic, Slovakia
Director
Marta Kovářová
Duration
77’
DOCU/WORLD
Bigger Than Trauma
DOCU/WORLD
Bigger Than Trauma
Year
2022
Country
Croatia
Director
Vedrana Pribačić
Duration
90’
DOCU/WORLD