PROMISED SKY (PROMIS LE CIEL) World Cinema

PROMISED SKY (PROMIS LE CIEL)

Erige Sehiri’s open-hearted sophomore fiction feature follows three resilient Ivorian women living in Tunisia whose bonds are tested amid a ruthless immigration crackdown. In the film’s opening moments, the three women take in a young girl who recently survived a capsized refugee boat in the Mediterranean and has been orphaned by the tragedy. Their efforts to create a home for the child mirror their own precarious residency — either lacking documentation or possessing legal statuses that could be revoked at any moment. Anchored by formidable, magnetic, often jubilant performances from Aïssa Maïga, Laetitia Ky and newcomer Debora Lobe Naney, PROMISED SKY courses through the trials and tribulations of a tight-knit group of women living in fear of a government hostile to their very existence. In witnessing the methods the Tunisian government uses to weed out undocumented immigrants, audiences will discover many dreadful parallels to America’s current regime, but there’s a light and a beauty in Sehiri’s work that promises hope and makes the case for shared humanity in the face of intolerance. –Travis Weedon

Erige Sehiri is a French Tunisian director, producer and former journalist whose work bridges documentary realism and narrative cinema. Sehiri began her film career in documentary, directing the acclaimed RAILWAY MEN (2018). In 2022, she wrote, directed and produced her first feature, UNDER THE FIG TREES.

Erin Farrell
Film Movement
erin@filmmovement.com

MEMBERS & PASSHOLDERS

Screenings

October 23, 3:00 p.m.

Chinese 2

October 26, 11:00 a.m.

Chinese 2

October 26, 11:00 p.m.

Chinese 2

Details

Country: Tunisia, France, Qatar

Year: 2025

Director: Erige Sehiri

Screenwriters: Erige Sehiri, Malika Cécile Louati, Anna Ciennik

Producers: Didar Domehri, Erige Sehiri

Director of Photography: Frida Marzouk

Editor: Nadia Ben Rachid

Music: Jean-Pierre Arquié

Cast/Featuring: Aïssa Maiga, Debora Lobe Naney, Laetitia Ky, Estelle Kenza Dogbo, Foued Zaazaa

Running Time (minutes): 95

Languages: French, Arabic

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