Mounia Meddour

Brisk, confident, and atmospheric, Mounia Meddour’s feature debut “Papicha” promptly brings to mind certain female driven films of the 21st century, centered on young women’s camaraderie, resistance and unique struggles—movies like Deniz Gamze Ergüven ’s moody “ Mustang ,” Margaret Betts ’ somber “ Novitiate ,” Peter Mullan ’s devastating “ The Magdalene Sisters ” and even Talya Lavie ’s darkly comedic “ Zero Motivation .”