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Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #56. Meryam Joobeur’s Motherhood

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Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #56. Meryam Joobeur’s Motherhood

Eric Lavallée

Published on January 16, 2023

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Motherhood

Tunisian Canadian filmmaker Meryam Joobeur‘s fourth short film Brotherhood put her on the map (a Sundance-Clermont selection and Oscar-nominated short) and when the industry took notice Motherhood was put into the development landing coin and support through various organizations including the Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where she was awarded the Sundance Institute/NHK Award. The project also landed some Eurimages Fund money. Production would have taken place last year back in Tunisia. This was produced by Leona Films and Tanit Films.

Gist: Salha, a mother gifted with prophetic dreams and visions, lives in an isolated village in Tunisia. When her eldest son’s sudden return from Syria coincides with a series of strange disappearances in their community, Salha’s maternal love is tested and the family faces how guilt can haunt the human spirit.

Release Date/Prediction: We think this is going to Cannes with the Critics’ Week as the best possible bet.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).