Sami Tlili

Sami Tlili

Biography

Sami Tlili was born on 9 March 1985 in Kairouan, Tunisia. He has been active in the cine-club movement as well as in the Tunisian amateur filmmakers’ association (FTCA). Between 2005 and 2008 he filmed his first three short films, which were shown and premiered at international festivals. Today he is a lecturer of francophone literature and African cinema at the University of Sousse faculty of arts. His first feature-length documentary YALAN BU EL FOSFATE (CURSED BE THE PHOSPHATE), which he is to present in Cologne, was honoured as the best documentary at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2012. Tlili says of his self-image as a filmmaker: "I don`t make films about the revolution; I make films for the revolution. This film reflects on these events [the 2008 uprising in Tunisia`s Gafsa mining basin]. They`re usually seen as the beginnings of the Tunisian revolution. I don`t totally agree with that. Historically, it may be true, but for me the [Gafsa] mining basin events weren`t only interesting because of what happened on January 14 and what is called `the revolution`. What`s interesting is that it`s the first popular uprising in Tunisia since independence."

Filmography

YALAN BU EL FOSFATE (CURSED BE THE PHOSPHATE) (2012): Guest, Direction