Tawfeek Barhom to Star in Les Valseurs’s ‘Borderline’

Palestinian actor Tawfeek Barhom, best known for Tarik Saleh’s Cannes winner “Cairo Conspiracy” in 2022 and Palme d’Or winner 2025 for his short film “I’m Glad You’re Dead Now,” is set to headline the French pic “Borderline” by first-timer Yves Piat.

A very loose feature-length version of Piat’s Oscar-nominated live action short “Nefta Football Club,” “Borderline” (Sur la ligne”) reunites Piat with producer Damien Megherbi, co-founder of French outfit Les Valseurs with Justin Pechberty.

Joining the cast are Samir Guesmi (“Ibrahim,” “A Prophet”) and Lyes Salem (“,” “The Man from Oran,” “Munich”).

In the Arabic-speaking pic, Barhom stars as Hichem, a customs officer on the Algerian-Tunisian border, who tries to provide a decent life for his wife Leila and little daughter Zineb. Caught up in a corrupt system, his integrity is put to test when he meets Tesla, a music-loving donkey lost in the desert with headphones over his ears and bags full of cocaine on his back.

“During my research, I often had in mind the actor who played the lead role in Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman.” When Tawfeek accepted the role, I knew I had found my ‘dogman’: with his accuracy, fragility, and determination, he will be the perfect anchor for this film, which features colorful characters struggling in the chaos of their world,“ said Piat in a statement.

Speaking with Variety, ahead of the film’s pitch tomorrow at the Nordic Co-Production Market in Haugesund, Merghebi said “there’s something undeniably compelling about Tawfeek’s acting style. “The film which sits between the cinematic universes of Elia Suleiman and the Coen brothers, navigates between realism and absurdity. The character of Hichem is an upright and honest man, who encounters financial hurdles. When he finds the donkey carrying the cocaine, he is faced with a moral dilemma: should he sell it on the black market or turn it over to the authorities? Tawfik will be perfect to portray the character’s inner struggle. “

“He’s also very hard working,” the producer added. “We want the film to feel authentic, particularly regarding the Arabic language; Tawfeek speaks Palestinian Arabic, but he is capable of fully immersing himself in a role and honing the specific Arabic dialect required here.”

Digging into “Borderline”’s narrative, Megherbi believes the overarching theme of borders both real and moral, should play strongly internationally. “Together with Yves and co-writer Alaa Eddine Aljem, our idea was to approach the concept of borders in a cinematic and metaphorical way,” he explained. “On one hand, you have the running theme of the moral boundary. Will Hichem stay clean, on the right track when he’s surrounded by people involved in illicit deal-making? “

“Then you have the setting on the Algerian-Tunisian border. There is something inherently absurd about the very notion of a border, especially in the middle of the Sahara,” Megherbi observed. “Borders are human inventions. In North Africa in particular, they’ve been drawn practically with a ruler by colonial powers, yet they have real consequences for people’s lives. In the film we take them very seriously, and challenge viewers to reflect on them. But their inherent absurdity is also what triggers the humour.”

Spanish Co-production

The project is being co-produced by Les Valseurs with Spain’s Sumendi and BTeam, partners to the French outlet on Diego Céspedes’ “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” (Un Certain Regard top winner in 2025), with funding from Catalonia’s ICEC, France’s CNC, Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Pays de la Loire.

At this week’s Haugesund New Nordic Films market, Megherbi is hoping to add Nordic co-producers, especially from Norway. “We’ve already co-produced “Elephants in the Fog” (this year’s Jury Prize winner at Cannes Un Certain Regard) with Storm Films in Norway. I believe the kind of deadpan, absurd humor tends to resonate well in Scandinavia. “Nordic people also know what it means to be tiny in front of a huge, indifferent landscape, even if the temperature is a little lower in comparison with the Sahara!” he quipped.

Part of a delegation attending the French Focus in Haugesund, Megherbi will also bring to the Nordic Co-Production the animation project “All the Softness in the World,” feature debut of Turkish helmer Ayçe Kartal, multi-awarded for the short “Wicked Girl.”

The sweeping story is set from the early 1950s in Turkey, through to the disco era in Paris. A boy raised as a girl in Turkey to protect him from a family vendetta, flees to Paris. There he resumes his life as a young man, and overcomes his trauma through creativity as he enters the real of Haute couture.

“We’re in early stages of financing,” said Les Valseurs co-founder who is looking for equity and technical partners.

Both “Borderline” and “All the Softness in the World” are vying for the Storyline Award, Best Pitch and Midpoint Talent Award, to be handed out on Thursday.