A marvelous film by the director of A Summer in La Goulette (January 19), Halfaouine belongs to the coming-of-age genre, depicting the touchingly baffled response of puberty to first desire. Noura, a twelve-year-old boy, is at the crossroads of the separate worlds of men and women. Still young enough to go to the women's baths with his mother, he will soon be banished from this paradise of warm eroticism into the harsher world of men. His transition is aided by two compassionate young women, as well as by the rooftop terraces that link the households of the Halfaouine district. Director Férid Boughedir unveils sexuality in Arab life with a joy and sensitivity that refuse to recognize the authority of taboo. The director said, "At a time when clichés about Arab culture are more arbitrary than ever, I am tempted to talk about a Mediterranean society that can still be experienced today, luxuriant and tender, where humor and eroticism are always prevalent together with tolerance."-Cathy Phoenix, SFIFF '91