News from Civsy, based on generative AI tools and retrieval-augumented real time data searchIn April 2025, Tunisia faced an unexpected cultural storm over Pomme d’amour (Dabbous el Ghoul), a short film directed by Fares Naanaa. Released in 2021 with the support of the Tunisian National Center for Cinema and Image, the film initially stirred no controversy. However, when uploaded to the local streaming platform Artify four years later, it provoked widespread outrage. Online commentators and religious conservatives accused the film of being an intolerable offense to God and religion, calling for accountability from those involved. What had once been received as a satirical allegory was now denounced as blasphemy, a shift that reveals Tunisia’s changing sociopolitical climate and shrinking tolerance for critical or imaginative works.
The Film and Its Intent
Pomme d’amour unfolds in a fantastical world resembling Paradise, where Adam and Eve face trial for stealing an apple. Through humor and irony, the film questions moral absolutes, divine authority, and human frailty. Jamel Sassi’s portrayal of God, alongside Mohamed Ben Mrad as Adam and Yasmine Dimassi as Eve, offered a contemporary reflection on the tension between justice and desire. The intent was clearly allegorical; it used satire to revisit foundational myths within a modern lens. Upon release in 2021, Tunisian audiences recognized it as an artistic and philosophical exploration rather than a theological provocation. The sudden outrage in 2025, therefore, signals a deeper transformation in the public mood and cultural politics.
The Outrage and Harassment Campaign
When Pomme d’amour premiered on Artify, a locally popular streaming platform akin to Netflix, social media quickly filled with denunciations. Commenters claimed the film insulted divine authority through its personification of God, a depiction considered taboo in Islam. Religious influencers amplified the backlash, and actors became targets of online harassment. Mohamed Ben Mrad issued a public apology on social media, explaining that the film was not intended to offend believers and expressing regret for any perceived disrespect. Despite his statement, the attacks persisted, and Artify removed the film from its catalogue. The incident forced several members of the cast and crew into silence, illustrating the dangers of moral panic in an environment where digital outrage can quickly transform into reputational threats and self-censorship.
It is important to note that the actors in the film were subjected to more pressure and harassment than the director, Fares Naanaa. The two actors portraying the main characters: Mohamed Ben Mrad (in the role of Adam) and Yasmine Dimassi (in the role of Eve) were the most affected by this digital campaign of intimidation.
Political Context and Distraction Strategy
The timing of the controversy raised significant questions. Just days before the Pomme d’amour debate erupted, Judge Ahmed Souab was arrested on April 21, 2025, after publicly criticizing government interference in the judiciary. His detention drew massive backlash online, with Tunisians voicing concerns about shrinking freedoms and the erosion of independent institutions. When the Pomme d’amour story went viral four days later, it effectively diverted national attention away from Souab’s case. The coincidence led many observers to interpret the controversy as a manufactured distraction, a way to redirect public anger from mounting political repression toward cultural and moral outrage. In this sense, the case underscores how debates over religion and morality can be instrumentalized to deflect criticism and fracture public discourse.
A Mirror of Tunisia’s Shifting Cultural Climate
The Pomme d’amour affair exposes how Tunisia’s cultural sphere has become increasingly vulnerable to ideological policing. Once a leading regional example of post-revolutionary creative openness, the country now faces renewed constraints on artistic freedom. Works that challenge orthodoxies or employ metaphorical representations of religious themes are met with punitive backlash, both from the public and from institutions. The film’s fate demonstrates not only the fragility of artistic expression but also how moral narratives can be weaponized within broader struggles over speech, identity, and power. As Tunisia’s democratic space contracts, the Pomme d’amour case stands as a telling illustration of how artistic freedom can become collateral damage in political battles over control and legitimacy.
References
Artify Tunisia (2025). "Pomme d’amour" streaming release and removal timeline.
African Arguments (2025). Tunisia’s shrinking space for artistic and judicial independence.
Nawaat (2025). Public reaction to "Pomme d’amour" and the debate over blasphemy in cinema.
Amnesty International (2025). Tunisia: Crackdown on dissent intensifies following arrest of Judge Ahmed Souab.
Interview with Fares Naanaa, La Presse de Tunisie, May 2025.
