Director Narjiss Nejjar and producer Lamia Chraibi in person on August 24!

A visually ravishing tale of women struggling against the bonds of tradition, The Rif Lover firmly established its director Narjiss Nejjar as one of the most important voices in her generation. Set in a small seaside village, the film tells the story of Aya, 20-years old, curious and impatient to discover what the world might offer. Her brothers have gotten involved with a local drug smuggler known as The Baron; when trying to work out a drug shipment with him, Aya’s older brother offers her to The Baron, setting a motion a chain of events that will leave no one unchanged. Throughout the film, Nejjar uses Bizet’s Carmen as a counterpoint to Aya’s dreams: from the fictional heroine’s fiery independence, Aya draws inspiration, but as her best friend reminds her, in the opera it’s Carmen herself who pays the ultimate price.