One of the most acclaimed Tunisian films of recent years, Ashkal by director Youssef Chebbi, returns to the big screen as part of CinéMaghreb’s latest event at Cinéma Les 3 Luxembourg in Paris on July 6. After the screening, audiences will have the opportunity to join a discussion with the filmmaker. The event offers a closer look at a film that has become one of the most distinctive works in contemporary Arab cinema.

Premiering in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Ashkal quickly attracted international attention. The film stands out for its unique cinematic language. Instead of following familiar conventions associated with films from the region, Chebbi combines crime fiction, psychological thriller and supernatural elements. The result is a story that feels both unsettling and deeply connected to Tunisia’s recent history.

The story unfolds in Les Jardins de Carthage, an unfinished district on the outskirts of Tunis. More than a setting, the neighborhood becomes one of the film’s central characters. The Ben Ali regime originally conceived the area as an exclusive residential development near the presidential palace. Construction stopped after the 2011 Revolution when corruption investigations brought the project to a halt.

Years later, work slowly resumes. During this period, two police officers, Fatma and Batal, discover a charred body inside one of the deserted buildings. When similar deaths begin to occur, the investigation takes an unexpected direction. What begins as a police case gradually evolves into something far more mysterious, blurring the boundaries between reality, memory and the supernatural.

For Youssef Chebbi, choosing Les Jardins de Carthage was never simply a matter of location. In the film’s press dossier, the director explains that he was fascinated by the district’s unusual architecture and vast empty spaces. The area felt disconnected from the familiar image of Tunisia often seen on screen.

Chebbi describes the abandoned construction site as an almost unreal landscape. It exists somewhere between a modern ruin and an open-air film set. Its silence and emptiness naturally invited stories of mystery and investigation. For the filmmaker, it became the ideal setting for a genre film, a form that remains relatively rare in Tunisian cinema.

The director also wanted to move away from visual clichés often associated with the Maghreb. Instead of crowded streets, warm colours and postcard imagery, Ashkal presents rigid concrete buildings, deserted avenues and harsh light. This approach creates the impression of a city haunted by unfinished histories.

Through its architecture, the film reflects a country still grappling with the consequences of political transition. Buildings become silent witnesses to unresolved memories. The landscape itself carries the weight of the past.

Although structured as a detective story, Ashkal is also a meditation on justice and accountability. The investigation echoes Tunisia’s post-revolution experience. It draws inspiration from the Truth and Dignity Commission, which documented corruption, torture and human rights violations committed under previous regimes.

Rather than recreating historical events, Chebbi focuses on their aftermath. The film asks what remains when institutions fail to fully confront the past. It also explores how collective wounds continue to shape the present.

Fire emerges as one of the film’s most powerful symbols. The recurring burned bodies inevitably recall the self-immolations that followed Mohamed Bouazizi’s act in December 2010. Yet Chebbi transforms this painful chapter of history into something larger than political commentary.

Throughout Ashkal, fire represents destruction, transformation and belief. It becomes a force that connects the film’s political, emotional and spiritual dimensions. As the story progresses, it raises questions about sacrifice, memory and the search for meaning in uncertain times.