RAILWAY MEN

LA VOIE NORMALE

By Erige SEHIRI

AKKA FILMS - as PROD

Social issues - Completed 2018

On a road trip, Ahmed a train conductor is torn between his loyalty to the old Tunisian railway company and his personal aspirations, while Fitati, his colleague, chooses to become a whistleblower on train accidents.

Festivals
& Awards

Nyon, Visions du réel 2018
Amsterdam, IDFA 2018
Lussas, Etats généraux 2019
Helsinki, Docpoint 2019
Zurich FF 2021
New World View
    • Year of production
    • 2018
    • Genres
    • Social issues, Female director, Documentary
    • Countries
    • SWITZERLAND, FRANCE, TUNISIA
    • Languages
    • ARABIC
    • Duration
    • 73 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Erige SEHIRI
    • Producer(s)
    • Palmyre BADINIER (AKKA FILMS), Dora BOUCHOUCHA (Nomadis Images)
    • Synopsis
    • Line no 1 is dubbed THE NORMAL WAY by the Tunisian rail workers because it is the only one built respecting the international standards. Ironically, it is also the most neglected and rundown. Accidents happens all the time putting both passengers’ and workers’ lives at stake. Driving the old locomotives, Ahmed, Afef, Issam, Abee and Najib are the protagonists and the witnesses of a difficult transformation process that from the Tunisian railways invests the whole of Tunisian post-revolutionary society. Each one of them tries hard to find a new place in a society that struggles to create a democratic way of existing. Tackling incompetence and corruption, the film celebrates dignity, hope and resilience.