# The Source (عين النساء) (2011 film)
**The Source** (French: *La Source des femmes*; Arabic: عين النساء) is a 2011 comedy-drama film directed by Radu Mihaileanu, in which the women of a North African village stage a love strike, refusing intimacy with their husbands until the men bring running water to the village. It competed for the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and was released in France on 2 November 2011.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-source-des-femmes/) • [2](https://elcinema.com/work/2004478/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *La Source des femmes*; Arabic release title عين النساء[2](https://elcinema.com/work/2004478/) |
| Director and co-writer | Radu Mihaileanu, with Alain-Michel Blanc on the screenplay[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-source-des-femmes/) |
| Countries | France, Morocco, Belgium, Italy; dialogue in Arabic[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-source-des-femmes/) • [2](https://elcinema.com/work/2004478/) |
| Runtime and release | 136 minutes; Cannes In Competition, May 2011; French theatrical release 2 November 2011[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-source-des-femmes/) • [2](https://elcinema.com/work/2004478/) |
| Budget | 7.99 million euros[3](https://3rabica.org/%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A1_%28%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%85%29) |
| Lead cast | Leïla Bekhti (Leila), Hafsia Herzi, Saleh Bakri, Hiam Abbass, Biyouna, Sabrina Ouazani, Mohamed Majd[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_source/cast-and-crew) |
| César nominations | 2012 nominations for Best Actress (Leïla Bekhti) and Best Costumes (Viorica Petrovici)[5](https://www.academie-cinema.org/films/la-source-des-femmes-34607/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story is set in the present, in a small village somewhere between North Africa and the Middle East. Since time immemorial the women have fetched water from a spring on top of the mountain under a blazing sun, while the men lounge over tea and cards. Leila, a young bride played by [Leïla Bekhti](https://www.edgepedia.org/leila-bekhti), is troubled by the accidents that occur on the steep mountain path, and she urges the women to launch a love strike: no more cuddling and no more sex until the men run water into the village.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-source-des-femmes/) • [6](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/11047/) She is supported by her widowed neighbor and by her free-thinking schoolteacher husband Sami (Saleh Bakri).[6](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/11047/)
The women hold out until their demand reaches parliament and the government intervenes, and drinking water finally arrives in the village.[3](https://3rabica.org/%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A1_%28%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%85%29)
## Origins
**A true story and a classical model.** Mihaileanu said the project began with a real event in Turkey in 2001: in a small traditional village, women who carried heavy buckets of water daily from a spring on an adjacent mountain decided, after a series of accidents, to wage a love strike until the men agreed to run water lines to the village. The men at first did not take them seriously, matters turned violent, the women held firm, and the case was settled by government intervention.[7](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/247/13/69111/presse/la-source-des-femmes-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf) He also drew on [Aristophanes](https://www.edgepedia.org/aristophanes)' *Lysistrata*, the comedy in which a woman incites a sex strike to end a war, a subject he considered filled with very contemporary issues.[7](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/247/13/69111/presse/la-source-des-femmes-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf)
In writing the screenplay with Alain-Michel Blanc, the director drew on testimony from Arab women and reading in sociology and religion, and said that travel and friendships during the project gradually moved the team away from a European perspective.[8](https://www.ammonnews.net/article/100619) He had initially looked for a woman director of Arab extraction to bring a more accurate point of view, but did not find one and proceeded himself, convinced that setting the story in a Muslim context would let the film touch on the Quran and Islam, which he saw as subject to clichés and fantasies.[7](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/247/13/69111/presse/la-source-des-femmes-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf)
## Production
The film was shot in Moroccan colloquial Arabic, the first time Mihaileanu had made a complete film in a foreign language; he nonetheless intervened to correct some pronunciation, and much of the dialogue is carried by song, poetry, and dance.[8](https://www.ammonnews.net/article/100619) Moroccan actor Mohamed Majd described the shoot as a love song shared with the villagers: local residents took part in the film and were compensated, and the director also paid for building and asphalting 8 km of road to the filming area and supplying it with drinking water.[8](https://www.ammonnews.net/article/100619)
The crew included cinematographer Glynn Speeckaert, editor Ludo Troch, production designer Christian Niculescu, costume designer Viorica Petrovici, and composer Armand Amar.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-source-des-femmes/) Production companies included Elzévir Films, Oï Oï Oï Productions, EuropaCorp, France 3 Cinéma, Indigo Film, and Agora Films, with backing from Eurimages and international sales by EuropaCorp.[9](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/201525/201525/rl/en/rl/1/)
## Reception
The film screened in [Competition](https://www.edgepedia.org/competition) at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in May 2011.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-source-des-femmes/) [French press](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-press) response was mixed: AlloCiné recorded an average press rating of 2.4 out of 5 across 20 reviews. Some critics praised it warmly, Le Figaroscope calling it a luminous oriental tale and a declaration of love to the Muslim woman, and Le Journal du Dimanche a feminist and universal fable; others found it weighed down by its conventions and choreography.[10](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-178832/critiques/presse/) At the 2012 [César Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/cesar-awards) the film received two nominations, for Best Actress (Leïla Bekhti) and Best Costumes (Viorica Petrovici).[5](https://www.academie-cinema.org/films/la-source-des-femmes-34607/)
## The director
Radu Mihaileanu was born in [Bucharest](https://www.edgepedia.org/bucharest) in 1958 and left Romania to escape the Ceaușescu dictatorship, settling first in Israel and then in France, where he studied cinema. His earlier films include *Train de vie* (1998), awarded at the Venice festival, *Va, vis et deviens* (2005), which won the César for Best Original Screenplay in 2006, and *The Concert* (2009), seen by nearly 2 million spectators. *The Source* followed in 2011, treating the demands of a group of women in the Maghreb who want their daily tasks shared by the men.[11](https://www.normandiepourlapaix.fr/index.php/personnes-structures/mihaileanu)
## Context of the love strike
The film's premise echoes a form of protest with classical and modern precedents. The sex strike first appears in Aristophanes' anti-war comedy *Lysistrata*, where women withhold sex from their husbands as peaceful resistance to end the [Peloponnesian War](https://www.edgepedia.org/peloponnesian-war). Modern examples cited around the film's release include Liberia in 2003, where activist [Leymah Gbowee](https://www.edgepedia.org/leymah-gbowee) called a sex strike to help end the civil war; Colombia in 2006, when partners of gang members in the Pereira region declared a ten-day strike to reduce the rate of killings; and the Philippines in 2011, where women of Mindanao used the tactic to restore peace to their streets.[12](https://www.jeem.me/culture/245)
## References
1. [La Source des femmes (The Source), Festival de Cannes official catalogue](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/la-source-des-femmes/)
2. [The Source (2011), elCinema](https://elcinema.com/work/2004478/)
3. [عين النساء (فيلم), 3rabica](https://3rabica.org/%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A1_%28%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%85%29)
4. [The Source: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_source/cast-and-crew)
5. [La Source des femmes, Académie des César](https://www.academie-cinema.org/films/la-source-des-femmes-34607/)
6. [The Source, Independent Cinema Office](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/11047/)
7. [Interview with Radu Mihaileanu, La Source des femmes English press kit, UniFrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/247/13/69111/presse/la-source-des-femmes-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf)
8. ["عين النسا" .. إضراب عن المعاشرة لإنهاء معاناة قرويات, Ammon News](https://www.ammonnews.net/article/100619)
9. [The Source (La Source des femmes), Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/201525/201525/rl/en/rl/1/)
10. [Critiques Presse pour le film La source des femmes, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-178832/critiques/presse/)
11. [Radu Mihaileanu, Normandie pour la paix](https://www.normandiepourlapaix.fr/index.php/personnes-structures/mihaileanu)
12. [فيلم عين النسا: العصيان الجنسي, Jeem](https://www.jeem.me/culture/245)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2011 to 2012 › Released in 2011*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license