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Film explores how things have, and haven't, changed for Tunisia's women

The female-directed drama "Beauty and the Dogs" shows how much Tunisia has changed since the revolution in which it was set.
Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania (L) and Tunisian actress Mariam Al Ferjani pose on May 19, 2017 during a photocall for the film 'Beauty and the Dogs' (Aala Kaf Ifrit) at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France.  / AFP PHOTO / Alberto PIZZOLI        (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)
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"Why did we have a revolution? People have died for their rights," snaps a character in “Beauty and the Dogs,” the latest film from Tunisian writer and director Kaouther Ben Hania. His stubbornness is directed at Mariam, a college student who has just been raped and resists filing a report at the police station.

Having made major advancements in women’s rights in recent years and benefited the most from the Arab Spring, Tunisia has gradually become the most progressive state in the region. Thus, Ben Hania’s film, which takes place after the impeachment of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, can be seen as both a period piece set at a time of transition and a dissection of Tunisia's remaining bureaucratic and chauvinistic ills that have yet to be fully eradicated.

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