The sea air sets you free: Sensitive and committed (critical)

Arranged marriage, hidden homosexuality… Nadir Moknèche once again shakes up the clichés about the representation of the North African community on the big screen

On the one hand Kenza Fortas, discovered (and Caesarized) in Scheherazade which has since proven, with North Bac, that she was not just the actress of a single role. On the other, Youssouf Abi-Ayad, revealed on stage by Christophe Honoré in The Idols And The Sky of Nantes who makes his big screen debut here. Both form the central duo of the new Nadir Moknèche. Since his first feature, Madame Osmane’s Harem in 2000, the director of Lola Pater has never ceased to twist the clichés about the representation on the big screen of characters of North African origin on both sides of the Mediterranean. And he continues this quest with The sea air makes you free around a marriage arranged by their respective parents between Saïd – a young man hiding his homosexuality from his family who, although not fooled, refuses to admit it – and Haja, broken after a love affair toxic with a drug dealer. Based on this young man at the crossroads delaying the moment when he will have to choose between living his sexuality and his family and this heroine who is anything but submissive, Moknèche creates a film as committed as it is engaging about self-acceptance, on the inevitability of an emancipation that is anything but obvious for both. And its subtlety also owes a lot to the nuanced interpretation of its duo of young actors, particularly at ease in expressing the contradictions of their characters, never locked into archetypes because they are constantly in motion, despite this what it costs them.

By Nadir Moknèche. With Youssouf Abi-Ayad, Kenza Fortas, Zahia Dehar… Duration 1h30. Released October 4, 2023