This snow-covered Park City feels a world away from Punis, where Amel Guellaty debuted "Where the Wind Comes" as part of the World Cinema drama competition Play Sundance. This real-life journey somewhat echoes the film's main characters, Alyssa (Eya Bellagha) and Mehdi (Slim Baccar), who embark on a versatile road trip to compete in an artist competition that promises to be Leaving home is the key to living in a European country.

special speech typethe photographer-turned-filmmaker says Sundance has always been her "dream" festival. "When I saw Sundance Laurels on the movie poster, I knew I was going to love this movie, so when I went in, I couldn't believe it." Premiere to Guellaty The excitement grew: it was the first time her main cast had seen snow. "They're almost equally excited about it," she joked.

The story focuses on a girl and a boy who grow up to be best friends without the romantic expectations of their friends and family. It first came out a few years ago before she even worked on her short films The Black Mamba and Kitana. "I really wanted to tell a story about friendship between a boy and a girl. I felt like that was a universal relationship throughout my life," she said.

"From my teenage years into my 20s, I was always surrounded by boys," the director continued. "I developed an emotional connection with them and people just asked me: Why don't you date? Even my parents asked me Whether the friend was my boyfriend or not, I just never found it weird that those friends were there, maybe because men don't talk to each other that much, so it feels easier to open up to a close girlfriend."

With "Where the Wind Comes," Guellaty came to represent a relationship she'd previously "seen enough of in movie theaters" where you had "this close, intimate relationship that never turned into a sexual relationship." Another key element for the filmmaker was honoring Tunisian youth, who she considers to be among the "most interesting in the world."

"I love this part of life. In your 20s you feel like you can change the world, and in your 30s it feels more and more like there's nothing you can do. Tunisian youth is so interesting - it's rooted in Arabia And Muslim culture, but also open, so there's this complex opposition. They love art, they're the ones who made the revolution ten years ago," she said.

However, the director is saddened that every time she talks to someone in their 20s, no matter what, they say "their dream is to leave" their native Tunisia. "They feel like there's no hope, that there's no way to create any future here. It's terrible to see a young man who has so much life in him and be so hopeless at the same time."

She doesn't want her feature debut to be a "dark drama," though, because every time she looks around she sees "smart and funny" people. To best capture this, Guertati decided to make his film a comedy, with a play on genre elements, including sparse surreal interludes throughout the film.

"It's really personal because I use my imagination to avoid anxiety and stress," she said of the inspiration for the sequences. "I have a different kind of imagination that's poetic, but I wanted that element to be in the film That exists because I've always felt that imagination is something that everyone has in some way, and that's another connection between the two characters, their imagination, that adds another layer to their friendship."

This playfulness and narrative defies Western audiences' expectations of what Tunisian cinema should look like, Gerati said. "People want to see belly dancing and mosques in movies. I was in Rome with one of my shorts and an audience member told me that my movie didn't look Tunisian. What does that mean? What is Tunisia?" Movie? What is it about Italian or French movies? That doesn't mean anything. Some people like to see women struggling and repressed. I want to do the opposite. A very strong woman and a more sensitive man."

At the current moment in Tunisian cinema - especially after last year's history-making Oscar nomination for Kaouther Ben Hania's "Four Daughters" - becoming the first Arab woman ever to be nominated for an Oscar - Guerrati said she feels "A huge pride".

"There's a new wave of directors, and I admire all of them," she added. "Every year we seem to have a film at Berlin or Cannes. When I get to Sundance, I feel like I'm joining them, Very proud. We are telling stories from our perspective and deviating from Orientalist expectations. I am proud of this new generation and being a part of it.”