Backstage

A beautiful film about Aida and her dance group touring in Morocco. An injury during a performance brings out conflicts within the group and leads them on a search for a doctor along a dark country road.

Backstage takes us to a dance show where the conflict between the lead dancers, Aida and Hedi, undermines the beauty of the performance. Internal tensions within the company affect the show, but thanks to the performers' professionalism, the audience does not notice when Aida gets injured. The thrilling and rhythmic power on stage contrasts with the slow dynamics behind the scenes.

Aida's injury brings out conflicts in the team while they are on their way to a doctor along a dark road. The journey contrasts the harmonious world the dancers convey on stage with the disharmonious one they live in behind it.

Maka Dolidze

Director

Afef Ben Mahmoud is a Tunisian actress and director with an educational background in business administration. She made her debut as a ballet dancer and then began acting in theatre, television and cinema. She has contributed to up to eleven films but is known for My Neighbor Hamouda (2004) and Hunting Gazelles (2008). She has also starred under major Tunisian directors, including Nouri Bouzid's Making Of (2006) and more recently in Streams (2021) by Mehdi Hmili, receiving the Best Actress award at the Cairo IFF. Alongside, she created Mésanges Films and produced Bouzid's latest film, The Scarecrows (2019), in which she also plays a leading role. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

After film studies,Khalil Benkirane directed the San Francisco Arab Film Festival and then returned to Morocco to direct his feature documentary The White Thread. He later joined the Doha Film Institute to oversee the Grant program, alongside which he co-produced The Scarecrows by Nouri Bouzids.

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