Cannes Film Festival 2022: Under the Fig Trees | Interview of Erige Sehiri

We interviewed Erige Sehiri, director of Under the Fig Trees, presented at the 54th Directors’ Fortnight, at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

When in Cannes, exploring the festival’s parallel sections is often very rewarding. This year especially, some of our festival favourites were discovered at the 61st Critics’ Week (such as Love According to Dalva by Emmanuelle Nicot) or at the 54th Directors’ Fortnight (like God’s Creatures by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer). At the Théâtre Croisette (home of the Directors’ Fortnight), we were also thrilled to discover Under the Fig Trees by director and producer Erige Sehiri. As a French-Tunisian filmmaker, Erige Sehiri has been developing Tunisian author driven documentaries through her own production company, Henia, and was distinguished at prestigious festivals like Visions du Réel, IDFA, Cinémed…

This year, Erige Sehiri is making her first steps in fiction, with Under the Fig Trees, a charming, layered and poetic feature centering on young women and men working the summer harvest who, among the trees, develop new feelings, flirt, try to understand each other, find – and flee – deeper connections.

We were very delighted to have the opportunity to sit down with director Erige Sehiri following the World Premiere of her film, for a chat about the making of Under the Fig Trees, her backgroud in documentary, and the echo of the film within the Tunisian society.