Press Coverage of Nadia Fares – Features, Reviews, and Festival Highlights

Honey & Ashes

Miel et Cendres

A woman with curly dark hair looking down with a somber expression, and a man with dark curly hair standing behind her, gently touching her shoulder in a blue hallway.
A woman with long brown hair sitting on a bed, with a young girl lying across her lap with her head resting on her arm.

Selected International Press

“Fares' sensitive direction and the cast's persuasive performances make this a passionate statement about the condition of women in the Arab world.”
— Variety

“Honey and Ashes gracefully links three stories of Tunisian women caught between past and present.”
— Los Angeles Times

“Fares skillfully interweaves the three narrative strands into a finely woven tapestry in which joy and sorrow, tradition and modernity, honey and ashes merge.”
— Basler Zeitung

“Particularly striking is the confidence with which Nadia Fares guides her excellent actresses.”
— Neue Zürcher Zeitung

“Brimming with talent, ideas and emotion, this film is thrilling to watch.”
— Planet Africa

“What makes the film so compelling is its warmth, the vitality with which the young women are portrayed, and the visible compassion for their struggles within a male-dominated society.”                  — Die Rheinpfalz 

“Again and again the director succeeds in creating beautiful, sensual and expressive images.”
— Die Ostschweiz 

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About Honey & Ashes
Awards & Recognitions

Big Little Women

A group of young girls in colorful traditional clothing and headscarves walking through a lush farm with green plants and purple flowers under a clear sky.
A woman dressed in white, with curly hair, is balancing on a pole in front of a city skyline, near a river, with trees in the foreground and a hazy sky.

Swiss and International Press

“The film pays tribute to the courage of women fighting for equality in both East and West.”
— Swissinfo

“Rich in emotion and insight, at times taking on the qualities of fiction.” 
— 24 Heures / Tribune de Genève

“A mirror between East and West.”
— Le Temps

“A story of betrayal, struggle and reconciliation, connecting the fight for women's rights in Egypt with Nadia Fares' own family history.”
— Der Bund

“In Big Little Women, Nadia Fares weaves 75 years of women's struggle in Egypt into her own personal story.”
— Coop Zeitung

“An illuminating documentary that overturns preconceptions.” 
— Le Courrier

Selected coverage: Le Matin Dimanche • Ciné-Feuilles • Coopération • RTS • Berner Zeitung • Tages-Anzeiger • Filmbulletin • OutNow • HBCU News • Xinhua • Al Ahram English

About Big Little Women
Awards & Recognitions

Mixed Up

ID SWISS

Red movie poster featuring a sepia-toned photo of a woman and a man dancing closely at a formal event, with the words 'Mixed up' in large white script across the photo and below it the credits for a film by Nadia Fares.

“...searching for new visual metaphors for her widely separated cultural roots, which she presents less as a source of conflict than as a great enrichment.”
— Swiss Cinema Book

“An enjoyable discovery at Locarno, this film of seven perspectives portrays, with freshness and intelligence, a Switzerland becoming increasingly multicultural.”
— L'Impartial

About Mixed Up
Recognitions

Small Differences

Anomalies passagères 

Close-up of actress Maria De Medeiros looking upward with a slight smile.
A woman with curly hair smiling while holding a baby dressed in yellow with a matching hat, in a room with green walls.

Selected French Press

“Nadia Fares skilfully builds effective dramatic situations and concludes her film with an elegant twist—and humour.”
— Télé K7

“Nadia Fares stages the frontier between masculine and feminine.”
— L'Humanité Hebdo 

“A bittersweet comedy that forms part of ARTE's remarkable Masculin/Féminin collection.”
— Télé 7 Jours

About Small Differences

Swiss Stories in L.A.

Schweizer in Los Angeles / Des Suisses à Los Angeles

A man wearing a Los Angeles Rams t-shirt and a cap standing outdoors near a house with an American flag waving in the background.
A woman wearing glasses, a blue sweater, and jeans is crouching and painting or drawing on a large abstract black and white artwork on a gallery wall. The room contains art supplies, a rolling cart with various items, and artwork on the walls.

“A captivating summer series that makes you want to escape to the City of Angels, while also revealing the challenges of building a life on the other side of the Atlantic.”
— Blue News

“Every day offers new surprises, new obstacles—but also a hundred new reasons to pursue the Californian dream.”

— SRF DOK

About Swiss Stories in L.A.

Spring Break

Les saveurs du printemps

Person with short, dark hair looking over their shoulder in a dimly lit room with candles in the background.
Two men outdoors, one wearing sunglasses and a tank top, the other wearing a white shirt, in a forested area.

“In Les saveurs du printemps, a young man realizes that he loves not only women. A feast for lovers of experimental cinema.”
— Cinema.de

“Les saveurs du printemps revolves around the theme of 'the first time'.”
— FILM Magazine (Switzerland)

About Spring Break
Recognitions
A newspaper page featuring film reviews, with a section titled "Film Reviews" and a review of the film "Honey and Ashes." The page includes a still image from the film showing two women, one sitting on a motorcycle and the other kneeling beside it, w
A newspaper article from the San Francisco Examiner dated May 9, 1997, announcing that the film 'Honey and Ashes' won the Skyy Prize at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
A black-and-white newsletter titled 'indieWIRE' dated May 12, 1997, with the URL 'http://indiewire.com' and features headlines and text about independent films and film awards from the 1990s.
Black and white newspaper page from summer 1997 issue of Filmmaker magazine, containing articles about the San Francisco International Film Festival and related film events and screenings.
Newspaper page with articles about the Mediterranean Film Festival in Montpellier, France, featuring film reviews, competition updates, and film schedules from November 3, 1996.
A black and white photograph of a woman in a patterned dress and pearl necklace standing in front of a group of people in a room with ornate decorations. The woman appears to be speaking or performing, while the audience members, including a man with
Black and white photograph of two women, one with curly hair, arm around the other, with a grainy texture. On the right, a man wearing a hat is playing a piano. The background contains text and posters, including a prominent poster with the title "Ja
Black and white photograph of a woman with curly hair smiling, sitting in front of a photo frame on the wall. In the lower part of the image, there is a computer monitor displaying a person in a striped shirt partway through a conversation or intervi
Black and white newspaper article from February 27, 1997, titled "Trois portraits de femmes pour dire le goût doux-amer du monde arabo-musulman," featuring a photo of two women, one with curly hair and the other with short dark hair, engaged in conve
Black and white photograph of a woman with curly hair, wearing a scarf, standing on a bridge or railing with a body of water in the background.
A black and white newspaper clipping with a photograph of a woman with curly hair and glasses, and a person behind her. The headline reads "Schläge statt Liebe: Frauen im Islam," discussing women in Islam, with the subheading "Miel et cendres - Nadia
Black and white newspaper page featuring articles and photographs of filmmakers Nadja Anliker Fares, Matthias Zschokke, and Peter von Gunten, with headlines about their work and careers, and images of each person.
Black and white photo of a woman standing outside by a body of water, with trees and buildings in the background.
Black and white photograph of Nadia Anliker Fares smiling, sitting outdoors on empty stadium seats with buildings in the background.
French newspaper clipping from March 5, 1997, featuring a black-and-white photo of filmmaker Nadia Fares smiling, with headlines about a film titled 'Honey and Ashes' and text discussing the film's themes on violence against women.
A black-and-white newspaper page from 'Die Weltwoche' dated August 1996 featuring an article about Swiss films with three photographs of women and text in German.
Black and white newspaper article with a photograph of three women. The woman in the foreground has short dark hair, glasses, and is wearing a light-colored blazer. The other two women are slightly blurred.
Black and white photo of a woman with curly short hair and glasses sitting on outdoor metal seating, smiling, with city buildings and a bridge in the background.
French newspaper page featuring a film review about three couples. The top includes date 'Saturday, March 22', and the section titled 'Arte'. The article discusses a Swiss film by Nadia Farès with accompanying photos of women and couples, including a
French newspaper article from L'Humanité explaining a photo of four diverse individuals looking at something together, with the caption indicating they are couples in crisis around birth, part of a piece on gender and sexuality.
Printed interview page with a photo of Nadia Farès, being an interview about her work in film, focusing on themes of masculinity and femininity, her experience with filming, and her thoughts on acting and character portrayal.
French newspaper page from March 15, 2003, featuring an article about gender anomalies and a black-and-white photograph of a woman holding a baby.
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