In 1989, television infrastructure was brought into the rural villages in Tunisia through the advocacy of Alain Decaux, then Minister for the Francophonie. The TV became the spot where families gathered and watched programs, and the broadcast images left a strong imprint on the villagers.

In The Wasp and the Orchid, filmmaker Saber Zammouris looks at TV’s influence in rural Tunisia and tells the story of those who left the villages for France. Are they searching for the images they once saw, and do they find what they are looking for?

The film cuts between scenes in the desert village, from where many people have emigrated, and Paris, where they have become migrant workers. In the desert, the power lines stand out starkly against the sky. In the early mornings of Paris, the migrant workers get ready for their daily shifts in warehouses, driving delivery trucks or working in fast food restaurants. Conversing with the laborers, the filmmaker asks: “Was it a choice or an obligation? Did someone drive us out of our country or did someone lure us to go somewhere else?” The questions of agency, power and imagination echo throughout the film.