Tunisian star Dhafer L’Abidine has wrapped shooting Sophia, his third feature as a director, and has travelled this week to Red Sea’s industry m
Tunisian star Dhafer L’Abidine has wrapped shooting Sophia, his third feature as a director, and has travelled this week to Red Sea’s industry market, the Souk, to discuss the film.
Sophia is billed as a drama that explores themes of cultural crossover between the Middle East and the west with a cast that includes Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay and newcomer Maya Céline El Gharbi in the title role. L’Abidine wrote the script and features in the cast alongside Alex Macqueen, Jonathan Hyde, Kais Setti and Hiba Abouk. A first look at Brown Findlay in the film can be seen above.
Filming began in Tunisia on September 14 and wrapped with three days of shooting in London last week. Now in post-production, a release is anticipated in the second half of 2025.
“The story represents a mix of cultures and how different worlds have grown closer these days,” L’Abidine told Screen. “I wanted to combine the two worlds in which I live.”
The story follows a British mother (Brown Findlay) in London who decides to take her daughter Sophia to meet her father (L’Abidine) in Tunisia after being separated for five years. The encounter brings a tumultuous past to delicate.
It is produced by L’Abidine’s Tunis-based Double A Productions with the UK’s New Sparta, which has credits including Mafia Mamma and Catherine Hardwicke’s upcoming A French Pursuit.
New Sparta’s Christopher Simon was an executive producer on L’Abidine’s 2021 directorial debut Ghodwa, which won the Fipresci award for best film at Cairo. The company was also an executive producer on the filmmaker’s UK-Saudi feature To My Son, which premiered last year at Red Sea. Sophia marks the first co-production between Double A Productions and New Sparta.
The feature has yet to attach a sales agent.
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