Making Of

The making of a martyr, the making of a man, and the making of a film. Bahta is 25, Tunisian, a hothead who excels at break-dancing. When he thinks a woman he likes may be seeing another man, his injured pride mixes with his Arab anger at Western insults to Islam, so he gets in trouble with the cops. For sanctuary, two men take him to the home of an older man, a teacher who is a tombstone calligrapher. The teacher slowly brings Bahta to understand the promise of martyrdom, playing on his desire for manhood. Occasionally, the actor playing Bahta breaks out of his role to complain to the director, who must coax him back. Is Bahta on his way to manhood, suicide, martyrdom, and murder? —