Under Her Skin (À fleur de peau)
Ajyal Competition, Made in Qatar
Meriem Mesraoua / Short Narrative / Qatar, France, Algeria / 2020 / 15 min
In Arabic / English subtitles
Interests: Coming of age, Drama, Identity
MENA Premiere
Synopsis
Making its world premiere in the Orizzonti Short Films Competition at Venice Film Festival last year, Meriem Mesraoua’s ‘Under Her Skin’ explores a young girl’s rite of passage as she struggles for control over her self-image. Disturbed by her daughter Sarah’s sudden nervous habit of nail-biting, a domineering mother attempts to correct the behaviour. But deeper issues are at play in this profoundly nuanced portrait of adolescence and rebellion.
About the Directors
Meriem Mesraoua earned a BSc with Honours in Media Industries and Technologies from Northwestern University. Her short films include ‘Our Time Is Running Out’ (2017) and ‘Under Her Skin’, which premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. Meriem is currently developing her first feature narrative, ‘The Other Wife’.
Credits
- Director
- Meriem Mesraoua
- Screenwriter
- Meriem Mesraoua
- Producer
- François d’Artemare
- Editor
- Marie Molino
- Production Designer
- Maya Mancer Sihem
- Cinematographer
- Mohamed Tayeb Laggoune
- Production Company
- Les Films de l’Après-Midi
- Sound
- Hafidh Moulfih, Mikhael Kurc
- Mixing
- Thibaut Macquart
- Cast
- Amina Hilal, Salima Abada, Mohammed Benameur, Hayem Delfi