Leyla Bouzid’s feature debut got off to an extraordinary start. One by one, it was screened by three major festivals: Venice, Toronto and Rotterdam. And with a rousing response from audiences, no less. As I Open My Eyes is in essence a conventionally shot film, free of experimentation and innovative deviations. The form of its realist narrative is fully subordinated to the young protagonist’s story of love and anarchy. The setting is Tunisia under the pre-Arab-Spring dictatorship. 2010, to be precise – not exactly the best year to found a female-fronted rock group singing protest songs. The secret police and their informants are nearly omnipresent. Neither is the young singer’s situation made any easier by her anxious mother. She fears for her daughter. And as time will tell, she has every reason to… Brilliantly written and directed, this is a story full of energy, surprising humour, joy, love and sometimes sadness, but also great music and the indefatigable belief that the struggle against convention will someday be won.