Festivals - Cannes 2025 : Martin Bourboulon’s 13 Days, 13 Nights Delivers a Political Gut Punch

By Mulder, Cannes, Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes, 23 may 2025

May 23, 2025, on the Croisette wasn’t just another glamorous stop in the ritual parade of festival red carpet appearances. It became a moment of revelation, personal and cinematic. Lyna Khoudri, the ever-rising French-Algerian actress, arrived hand-in-hand with 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema for the premiere of 13 Days, 13 Nights, the highly anticipated film adaptation of Mohamed Bida’s harrowing autobiographical account of Kabul’s fall. While their rumored relationship had been whispered through Spanish tabloids for months, their quiet but unmissable hand clasp on the Palais des Festivals’ iconic steps was a public unveiling in the full glow of international flashbulbs. Khoudri, no stranger to Cannes after appearances for Papicha, Gagarine, The French Dispatch, Nos Frangins, and Novembre, seemed at ease with the circus of cameras, but admitted to Le Parisien that “you never quite get used to it.” Her trick? “I let my mind drift a bit... I talk to the photographers, I joke with them to break the tension.” This year, with Benzema by her side, the distraction may have felt less like a defense and more like a shared secret.

Yet the real spotlight at Cannes 2025 wasn’t on tabloid fodder—it was firmly on 13 Days, 13 Nights, a politically-charged, emotionally raw film that has already begun to echo far beyond festival grounds. Directed by Martin Bourboulon, known for the polished period spectacles Eiffel and The Three Musketeers, this new project marks a profound shift into grittier terrain. Adapted from Bida’s memoir 13 Days, 13 Nights in the Hell of Kabul, the film retells the French embassy’s desperate evacuation from Kabul after the Taliban’s takeover on August 15, 2021. But it’s not just another geopolitical thriller. It’s a human survival story told through the eyes of diplomats, aid workers, and local allies, where bureaucracy collides with moral obligation and escape hinges on a single misstep. With Roschdy Zem as Commander Bida, the cast is led with both gravitas and grit, supported by international talent and a powerhouse production under Pathé Films and Chapter 2.

Filming began on May 20, 2024, in Casablanca—chosen for its uncanny ability to stand in for Kabul’s sun-scorched streets—and wrapped by early August in a tight and intense schedule. According to production sources, the heat was relentless. Roschdy Zem, committed to embodying Bida’s physical and psychological exhaustion, insisted on performing his own stunts, resulting in one terrifying moment where he reportedly collapsed from dehydration after a 12-hour shoot. Such commitment is rare and tells you everything you need to know about the film’s tone: immersive, relentless, and deeply personal. Cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc (Enemy, War Witch) captures the chaos not with sleek blockbuster gloss, but with a textured, documentary-like edge that thrusts viewers straight into the nerve-fraying tension of every decision, every shouted command, every lost second.

Khourdi’s role as Eva, a Franco-Afghan aid worker, provides the film’s emotional backbone. Her character, drawn from multiple real-life figures, embodies the heartbreak and bravery of those who chose to stay and help. In preparing for the role, Khoudri interviewed actual humanitarian workers and Afghan refugees, building her performance on lived truth rather than dramatic embellishment. Her presence is tender but steely—less a sidekick and more a conscience to Bida’s resolve. Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen, of Borgen fame, brings authority and vulnerability as a French diplomat facing the collapse of her mission in real time. These aren’t caricatures of heroism. They’re exhausted, terrified, determined humans operating on instinct and principle.

The screenplay, co-written by Bourboulon and Alexandre Smia, leans heavily into the linguistic and cultural dissonance of a crumbling Kabul. Shot in both French and English, the film mirrors the diplomatic chaos of the time, where misunderstandings could be fatal and trust was negotiated word by word. Composer Guillaume Roussel, known for balancing tension and intimacy in 3 Days to Kill and Black Beauty, returns with a score designed to underscore anxiety without overwhelming it. Early promotional footage hints at claustrophobic scenes set within embassy hallways, where time feels frozen and panic simmers beneath every surface. According to insiders, the film runs just under two hours—a tight, edge-of-your-seat journey that refuses to let viewers look away.

As France eyes the June 27, 2025, release with mounting anticipation, early test screenings have reportedly left viewers shaken and emotionally gutted. But perhaps more importantly, the film has drawn interest from outside traditional film circles. Political analysts, NGOs, even ex-diplomats are reportedly tracking it closely, eager to see how it handles the complexities of those thirteen days. There’s no glamorizing war here, no clean moral victories—only survival, compromise, and the weight of impossible decisions. “Fear was constant,” Bida wrote, “but paralysis was never an option.” The film honors that ethos without simplifying it, offering a vital reminder that history is made not just by generals, but by the people who refuse to abandon others when everything falls apart.

Cannes 2025 gave the world a premiere that blended star-studded elegance with sobering urgency. In 13 Days, 13 Nights, we’re not offered escapism but confrontation—a stark look at a moment that many would prefer to forget. And yet, thanks to Khoudri, Zem, and Bourboulon’s unflinching vision, we’re reminded that cinema can still be a tool of witness, empathy, and memory. On a night when a red carpet romance dominated headlines, the real love story was with the truth—brutal, complicated, and desperately necessary.

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Synopsis :
Kabul, August 15, 2021. As American troops prepare to leave the country, the Taliban storm the capital and seize power. Amid the chaos, Commander Mohamed Bida and his men ensure the safety of the French embassy, which is still open. Trapped, Commander Bida decides to negotiate with the Taliban to organize a last-ditch convoy with the help of Eva, a young French-Afghan aid worker. A race against time begins to get the evacuees to the airport and escape the hell of Kabul before it's too late.

13 Days, 13 Nights (13 jours, 13 nuits)
Directed by Martin Bourboulon
Produced by Dimitri Rassam et Ardavan Safaee
Written by Martin Bourboulon, Alexandre Smia
Based on the book 13 Days, 13 Nights in the Hell of Kabul by Mohamed Bida
Starring Roschdy Zem, Lyna Khoudri, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Christophe Montenez, Yan Tual, Fatima Adoum, Shoaib Saïd, Nicolas Bridet, Sayed Hashimi, Avant Strangel, Benjamin Hicquel, Sina Parvaneh
Music by Guillaume Roussel
Cinematography : Nicolas Bolduc
Edited by Stan Collet
Production companies : Pathé Films et Chapter 2
Distributed by Pathé Distribution (France)
Release date : June 27, 2025 (France)
Running time : 112 minutes

Photos : @fannyrlphotography