Sundance 2025: Charming Tunisian Film ‘Where the Wind Comes From’
by Alex Billington
January 27, 2025
“Do you know where the wind comes from…? They howl at the top of their lungs to wake the wind…” The Sundance Film Festival is supposed to be a festival of discovery, where first-time filmmakers have a chance to share their films and be discovered. While the festival drifted off course in the 2010s, it’s back on course in the 2020s, focusing on discoveries and little films from unknown filmmakers. Where the Wind Comes From is a Tunisian indie film made by a Tunisian filmmaker named Amel Guellaty 🇹🇳, making her feature directorial debut with this feature along with prolific work as a photographer in France and beyond. It’s a charming, entertaining little indie flick that deserves to find an audience outside of Sundance with viewers from any country. Where the Wind Comes From is a road trip comedy following two Tunisian youngsters desperate to escape the country any way they really can – following as they drive to an art contest on Djerba.
Where the Wind Comes From is written and directed by Tunisian filmmaker Amel Guellaty, making her first feature after two other award-winning shorts. It follows two rebellious Tunisians: 19-year-old Alyssa (played by Eya Bellagha) & shy 23-year-old Mehdi (played by Slim Baccar), who dream of escaping their reality in this African country. They’re good friends, who grew up together, but they aren’t romantically linked – at this point in their lives it’s really more about survival and friendship. Mehdi is an artist who loves to draw and decides to enter an art contest at the encouragement of Alyssa. But they can’t afford to get there. Alyssa is the more wilder of the two, defiant and progressive in a mostly likeable way in my opinion (though not to the more conservative people there), and decides to “borrow” a car from a friend she knows – and off they go driving down the coast towards the island of Djerba. This film reminds me of the kind of simple little indies that Sundance used to play in the 1990s and early 2000s. It’s small-scale and genuine and heartfelt – representing the angst & the desire for freedom that many young Tunisians feel being trapped living there.
What really makes Where the Wind Comes From fly is the two young Tunisian actors who star as Alyssa and Mehdi. Amel Guellaty got lucky finding these two and casting them in this and they deserve acclaim. Their connection, their companionship, their banter, their intimacy, their honesty – all of it is vital to the film and comes across as completely authentic. I had a good time watching this and connecting with both of them – at times it almost comes across like they’re playing both sides of one person, almost as if this is the director showing us both of her personalities split into two characters. On one hand, you have a talented artist who is shy and introverted, and afraid to go out and do anything and share his work. On the other hand, you have a rabble-rousing young woman who won’t take shit from anyone and likes to cause a scene because she’s tired of all the shit she has to deal with on a regular basis. Both of them complement each other so nicely and they’ll connect with viewers of all ages and all ethnicities. And they’re inspiring – they struggle and they have flaws but they push on, hopeful about a better life. I wish I could do something for them & encourage them.
Aside from being an entertaining road trip indie, the film has a few touches that give it an edge. There’s tiny animated sequences and fantasy moments where Alyssa day dreams about something happening – a teacher breaks out into dance during class, a lovely rainbow of colors flow out of another woman standing by the water. And there’s a fantastic indie soundtrack of songs from Tunisia – pop songs and folk songs and other tracks that seem like the kind of songs that these two would be listening to and supporting anyway (I wanted to Shazam most of them). The film and the screenplay are rebellious as well – it doesn’t end up where you expect it might, it’s not about how this art contest will save them, it’s about how everything is rigged against them. And the film wants to show us what that is really like and how hard it is for Tunisians to exist within this kind of oppressive society. However, thankfully it’s not depressing or hopeless, it’s light and uplifting – like most Sundance indie gems. It’s a worthy discovery and a good time with Alyssa and Mehdi on the road.
Alex’s Sundance 2025 Rating: 8 out of 10
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Article by:Source: Alex Billington
