Bab'Aziz

Nacer Khemir's 2005 film follows a blind dervish and his granddaughter across the desert. Bab'Aziz is travelling to a gathering of dervishes held once every thirty years; he says he does not know where it is and believes his heart will take him. Along the way he tells stories to the young Ishtar, and these come alive as separate sections inside the film: a prince who loses himself looking into a well, a man searching for his beloved, a lost heir. The narrative does not run straight; the tales enter one another and the line between the real and the fabled blurs. The film rests on the Sufi tradition and aims to build a sense of seeking rather than to teach a doctrine. Images of the desert and the music are its body. It was co-produced between Tunisia, Iran and several other countries. Who it's for: viewers who like slow, poetic films. Who it's not for: anyone expecting plot; the film is a walk and a series of stories.