Over the course of five years, this documentary traces the lives of two women, Jawhara and Emna, who are involved in opposing political parties in Tunisia as the country tries to establish democracy after the Arab Spring in 2010. Two weeks apart, the women both give birth to baby girls, and must navigate motherhood in a shifting place. Filmmaker Jessie Deeter, a UCSB grad from 1992, answered the following questions. See revolutioninfourseasons.com .
You went to Tunisia as a Fulbright Scholar before you decided to make this film. What initially drew you to the country?
I was familiar with the region from working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco in the 1990s when my now husband, then a friend, was a volunteer in Tunisia. For our Fulbright experience, it was important for us to return to the places we where we already had a connection and knew the language, so Morocco and Tunisia were obvious choices. Tunisia already held a special place in my heart, and I wanted to show it to our children as I researched what was meant to be a film about women and food as a Fulbright Scholar. When the Tunisians threw out President Ben Ali, the idea of the film I wanted to make changed dramatically.