With Ben Ali gone, a new generation of television has emerged in Tunisia.  The number of channels has more than doubled and new series tackle subjects once considered taboo in the former regime, like corrupt businessmen or badly behaved politicians.

“This is the first product of the revolution,” said journalist and critic, Khamis Khayati, adding that the dramas could always benefit from the revolutionary situation.  “Every series is basically a conscious and unconscious mirror.”

Rewriting the past

With Ben Ali gone, a new generation of television has emerged in Tunisia.  The number of channels has more than doubled and new series tackle subjects once considered taboo in the former regime, like corrupt businessmen or badly behaved politicians.

“This is the first product of the revolution,” said journalist and critic, Khamis Khayati, adding that the dramas could always benefit from the revolutionary situation.  “Every series is basically a conscious and unconscious mirror.”

Rewriting the past

‘The Minister’s House,’ a comedic series, depicts the life of one of Ben Ali’s minsters whose property is seized, yet he tries to convince everyone that he is innocent.  The desperate minister attempts to influence public opinion by recording several video clips and posting them on Facebook.

In another departure from Ali-regime thematic constraints, ‘Written III’ follows a mother and widow who tries to rebuild her life and fall in love again.

Tunisian dramas have many signs indicating the liberalization of the Tunisian audio-visual narrative, Khayati said. “But these signs have been modest due to poor production.”

Actor Habib Ghazal went as far as deeming the series unsuccessful because they don’t analyse the Tunisian society’s phenomena; rather, they “merely criticize and identify areas of deficiency without providing any alternatives or solutions”, he said.

He believes that those in charge of major dramas have failed to use the newly gained media freedom and only reveal behaviours of the former regime, without conducting an in-depth analysis of the reasons that such a regime was produced.

Tunisia is “still far away from the concept of creative freedom”, said Ghazal, adding that most of the drama activists are still subject to “self-censorship”.

He explained that Tunisian serials tackle the practices that were prevalent during the reign of the former regime. This is evident in ‘For Catherine’s Eyes’ and ‘Written,’ which contains scenes showing the involvement of the former president’s relatives and close associates in cases of corruption and abuse of power.

For his part, television director Hammadi Arafa believes that the low number of series hasn’t prevented the emergence of some bright spots, including the private channels’ involvement in producing dramas in which young authors, directors and technicians have participated in making.

Despite these criticisms, the bulk of Tunisians has preferred watching Tunisian channels this year and have  patiently waited for change.