Y’A PAS D’HEURE POUR LES FEMMES: FILM REVIEW
Sarra El Abed’s 19-minute short, Y’a pas d’heure pour les femmes (Ain’t No Time for Women), documents a group of Tunisian women across all generations at one of the most candid places where people come together: the hair salon. While these women get their hair cut and colored, they talk freely about politics; at the heart of their conversation is the 2019 Tunisian presidential election.
Like any debate about politics, disagreements between these women occur — but each point is met with a respect for banter. Fierce opinions are preyed on, laughed about, and brushed off. Whether they are poked or pried, no one seems to take any comment too personally. In many ways, it feels like these women are just shooting the shit with whoever has the ear to listen.
Abed opens Y’a pas d’heure pour les femmes with succinct title cards that describe the history of Tunisian politics. The first round of Presidential elections is currently underway, and they are the second elections since the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s dictatorial regime. “A rise in religious conservatism sparked by the Islamic party Ennahda has revived the fighting spirit of Tunisian women,” the film explains. 26 candidates are running, but the ones that come up the most in discussion are Abdelfattah Mourou, Abdelkrim Zbidi, Kais Saied, and Nabil Karoui. Historically, Tunisia’s 1956 promulgation of the Code of Personal Status, adopting laws that improved women’s rights and positioned Tunisia as a leader in the Arab world. “We didn’t start expressing ourselves until 2011,” a woman exclaims. “Before, we didn’t speak.”
The film’s cinemotography emulates the warm sense of comfort that a hair salon brings — from the sound of warm water washing away foamy shampoo to shots of hairdressers combing through wet hair with the utmost care. Abed ensures that the viewer feels they are sitting in the salon right next to these women. The film’s setting reminded me of Nadine Labaki’s Caramel, a film that follows the lives of five women in Beirut and largely takes place in a beauty salon called Si Belle. The salon is where the most intimate parts of each character’s life is revealed — giving the film a candor glaze.
In just 19 minutes, Abed offers a beautiful and candid look into the lives of real Tunisian women — understanding that some of the most honest conversations take place not at the dinner table or even a party, but at the hair salon.