Mint Tea (1984)

A young Algerian in Paris has not been as successful as he claims in letters home and when his mother unexpectedly arrives for a visit of several months he is hard put to hide his circumstances and the fact that he has resorted to smalltime criminal activity to support himself His mother disembarks in her traditional attire a warmhearted woman who does not have a clue as to how this foreign society functions but also has absolutely no inhibitions about finding out if the need arises As the story progresses the mother catches on to her sons circumstances though the two are still not able to confront the deception and right it Even with a low budget this firsttime featurelength story by Bahloul Bahloul combines satire comedy and pathos to bring home a relationship between mother and son that transcends lifes many obstacles