Mourad Ben Amor & Fairuz Ghammam

Mourad Ben Amor lives in Mahdia, Tunisia. At 16, he wrote to his cousin, Belgium-based filmmaker Fairuz Ghammam, expressing his wish to make films. Bamssi (2024), his debut short film, was created in close dialogue with her.

Fairuz Ghammam’s work centers on (auto)biography, shared authorship, and poetic visual language. Her collaboration with Mourad reflects not only artistic synergy across borders, but also the systemic challenges that hinder equitable cultural exchange, even amid international acclaim.

Mourad Ben Amor & Fairuz Ghammam – Bamssi (2024)

• Fobrux

Capturing intimate scenes of daily life – the road, the house, animals, the sea – the film unfolds with the urgency of an Instagram story. It becomes a poetic exchange between Mourad and Fairuz, between Tunisia and abroad, exploring distance, longing, and the desire for change. Surrounded by his dogs and cats, Mourad has built small daily routines that help him maintain rhythm and purpose – a quiet resistance to stagnation and constraint.

Analogue photographs, selected for The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet, punctuate the cellphone footage. For Mourad, photography offers a moment of stillness – a way to steady himself.

Bamssi has screened at Courtisane, Punto de Vista, Gabes Cinema Fen, Glasgow Film Festival, Open City Documentary Festival, and Alternative Film/Video in Belgrade, where it received a Significant Achievement award. It was nominated for the Doc Alliance Award.

video, color, 16:9, Arabic spoken, TU/BE, 2024, 26’

with Bamssi, Saïda, Princess, Queen, Kenza, Wazgha, Bianco and their little ones
made in a dialogue with Fairuz Ghammam
supported by Auguste Orts and Atelier Graphoui
sound editing Jean Garrier Barruel
credits Maaike Beuten
translation Mehdi Ghammam and Boris Belay

The photographs on view in Fobrux are for sale, to support Mourad’s practice.