Mohamed-Ali Nahdi's Film "13 Round" Selected for Tallinn's Black Nights Festival
The film "13 Round" by Mohamed-Ali Nahdi, a fiction exploring the resilience and inner struggles of modern life, has been selected for the competitive Critics' Picks section of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) in Estonia, one of the major cinematic events in Northern Europe.
After "Moez: The End of the Tunnel" (2022), a social and political drama that explores the margins of Tunisian society, Nahdi returns with a new, more intimate feature film. "13 Round" follows the journey of Kamel, a former boxer, his wife Samia, and their son Sabri, whose life is turned upside down after a devastating diagnosis.
This international co-production, bringing together Tunisia, Cyprus, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, is supported by the National Center for Cinema and Image (CNCI). The PÖFF, which will take place from November 7 to 23, 2025, in the Estonian capital, unveiled on Tuesday the selection of its competitive sections Critics' Picks and Rebels With a Cause. For its fourth edition, the Critics' Picks section will present ten world premieres, including "A Summer Tale" by Matías Szulanski (Argentina), "China Sea" by Jurgis Matulevičius (Lithuania, Taiwan, Poland, Czech Republic), and "Round 13" by Mohamed-Ali Nahdi. Alongside these films, movies from Canada, Iran, Belgium, France, and Mexico will come together to create an eclectic panorama.
The jury, chaired by Bhutanese director Dechen Roder, will also include German film journalist Thomas Schultze and French producer Jean-Baptiste Babin. Together, they will reward the most daring works in the selection. According to the festival's press release, the Critics' Picks and Rebels With a Cause programs celebrate "fearless cinema and uncompromising storytelling."
This ambition is shared by the director of the Critics' Picks program, Nikolaj Nikitin, who describes the 2025 selection as "as diverse as its passport stamps — from Iran to Peru, from Canada to Tunisia, from Mexico to Taiwan, from France to Lithuania, and all the way to Estonia." Lasting 1 hour and 50 minutes, "Round 13" is directed by Mohamed-Ali Nahdi and written by Sophia Haoues. The film brings together Helmi Dridi (as Kamel) and Afef Ben Mahmoud (as Samia) on screen, who embody a united couple facing a challenge: that of a child affected by a bone tumor, which questions their certainties and inner strength.
Born on May 11, 1972, in Tunis, Mohamed-Ali Nahdi comes from a family of artists: the son of actor Lamine Nahdi and singer-actress Souad Mahassen, he was immersed in the world of entertainment from a young age. Trained at the Tunisian National Theater from the age of 17, he pursued his studies at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français (CLCF) in Paris, where he specialized in editing.
His first feature film, "Moez," released in 2022, was born from a project initially conceived as a series. The film, co-produced by Zenith and SVP Productions, had received support from the CNCI. In parallel, Nahdi has signed several short films ("The Project," 2008; "Once Upon a Dawn," 2010) and a documentary ("Finally, I Express Myself," 2011). He has also made numerous appearances in films, both in Tunisia and internationally — notably in "Or Noir" (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 2011) or "Cinecittà" (Brahim Letaïef, 2009). In 2011, he collaborated with his father on the one-man show "Fi Hek Essardouk Nraychou," which he directed.
The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival is today one of the most important cinematic events in Northern Europe, attracting filmmakers, producers, and critics from around the world each year, offering a showcase for daring works and new voices in independent cinema.
