International Film Festival

In a press conference held on on Tuesday, July 25th, the Venice International Film
announced that Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia’s next feature film BEHIND
THE MOUNTAINS is set to hold its world premiere at the Horizons Section of its
80th edition, which will be running from August 30th to September 9th.
The film follows Rafeek, who, after spending four years in jail, decides to take his
only son behind the mountains to show him an incredible find.
BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS is written and directed by Ben Attia, who won the Best
First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for his film HEDI. The
film also stars Majd Mastoura — who previously won Best Actor at the same
festival — rising talent Samer Bisharat, Walid Bouchhioua, Salma Zeghidi, and
Helmi Dridi.
Lensed by Frédéric Noirhomme, BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS is edited by Lenka
Fillnerova and co-produced by Dora Bouchoucha and Lina Chaabane (Nomadis
Images); Jean Pierre, Luc Dardenne, and Delphine Tomson (Les Film Du Fleuve);
Nadim Cheikhrouha (Tanit Films); and Giovanni Robbiano and Lorenzo Rappetti
(010films). The film also received financial support from the Red Sea Fund when it
was in the project phase.
Finally, the film is distributed worldwide by Luxbox, while MAD Solutions handles
Arab world sales.
Mohamed Ben Attia was born in Tunisia in 1976, graduating from the Institut de
Hautes Etudes Commerciales in 1998 before studying Audiovisual Communication
at the University of Valenciennes in France.
He kicked off his filmmaking career with five shorts — ROMANTISME, DEUX
COMPRIMES, MATIN ET SOIR; KIF LOKHRIN, which won the Silver Award at the
FESPACO in 2006; MOUJA; LOI 76; and SELMA, which competed in the Official
Competition of the Clermont-Ferrand Festival and won several awards in various
other festivals.
He then released his debut feature, INHEBEK HEDI, in 2016. The film was a major
success, winning the Best First Film Award and the Silver Bear for Best Actor at

the 2016 Berlinale and receiving wide acclaim from both critics and audiences
around the world.
He found similar success in his second feature film, DEAR SON, which went on to
screen as part of the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes in 2018.