‘Take My Breath’ Filmmaker Nada Mezni Hafaiedh On Being “Truthful To The Experience Of An Intersex Individual” In Tunisia’s Oscar Entry – Contenders International

deadline.com:

Tunisian Oscar entry Take My Breath explores the clash between desire and identity as the life of 23-year-old seamstress Shams (Amina Ben Ismail) is overturned when their intersex identity is exposed.

Targeted by an obsessive attacker, Shams escapes to the capital city and lives in the shadows, shunned by true love and rejected by society’s rigid norms and expectations.

From writer-director Nada Mezni Hafaiedh, Take My Breath originally world premiered at the Warsaw International Film Festival.

It went on to win the Alexandria Mediterranean Film Festival’s top prize and Best Actress for Ismail. Casting Ismail was a stroke of luck for Hafaiedh, who said during Deadline’s Contenders Film: International showcase that she first discovered her in an airline magazine before getting to know her via Instagram and eventually placing her in the lead role. RELATED: Contenders International — Deadline’s Complete Coverage For Hafaiedh, the journey to Take My Breath began more than a decade ago when she met an intersex belly dancer. “Her story deeply moved me; I didn’t know people could be born intersex.