Mehdi Barsaoui

Mehdi M. Barsaoui (born 23 May 1984), is a Tunisian filmmaker. He is best known as the director of the critically acclaimed feature film A Son and shorts Sideways (2010) and Bobby (2014).

Personal life He was born on 23 May 1984 in Tunis, Tunisia. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Multimedia Arts of Tunis (ISAMM). After graduation, he moved to Italy and completed his training and graduated from DAMS in Bologna.

Career During the life in Italy, he directed three short films: Sideways (2010), Bobby (2014) and We Are Just Fine Like This (2016). All three short film received critical acclaim and then selected in several international festivals where they won several prizes. The short We Are Just Fine Like This won the Best Muhr Short award at the Dubai International Film Festival.

In 2019, he made his directorial debut with the film, Un fils (A Son) which was produced as a collaborative work of Tunisia, France, Lebanon and Qatar. The film had its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. The film received official selection at the Venice Film Festival 2019, where Sami Bouajila won the award for best actor in the Orizzonti section. At the Filmfest Hamburg, the film won the NDR Young Talent Award. The film also received critical acclaim. In 2020, the film won Prabhat International Award at Pune International Film Festival (PIFF).

Filmography Year Film Role Genre Ref. 2010 Sideways Director, editor, writer Short film 2012 It Was Better Tomorrow Editor Documentary 2012 Widjène Editor Documentary 2013 Le Challat de Tunis First assistant director Documentary 2014 Bobby Director, editor, writer Short film 2016 We Are Just Fine Like This Director, editor, writer Short film 2017 35 MM Director, editor, writer Short film 2017 Beauty and the Dogs First assistant director Film 2018 Omertà Editor Short film 2019 A Son Director, writer Film 2024 Aïcha Director, writer Film