The Films of Férid Boughedir

1. Death Disturbs / La mort trouble (1970, co-directed with Claude d’Anna)
2. Caméra d’Afrique (1983)
3. Caméra Arabe (1987)
4. Halfaouine: Boy of the Terraces (1990)
5. A Summer in La Goulette (1996)
6. Villa Jasmin (2008)
7. Zizou and the Arab Spring / Sweet Smell of Spring (2016) 

It was a pleasant surprise to recently come across Férid Boughedir’s 2016 film Zizou and the Arab Spring because almost two decades had passed since I last saw a film by him, A Summer in La Goulette. The release of Zizou means Férid Boughedir has now directed 6 features in his career, 7 when including 1970’s La mort trouble which he co-directed Claude d’Anna. The quality of Boughedir’s films more than makes up for the lack of quantity as each film is a delightful treasure.

Boughedir started his career as a film critic covering African cinema at the onset of the Carthage and Ouagadougou Film festivals in the late 1960s. In last year’s discussion with the African Film Festival (NY), Boughedir described how he was fortunate to witness the emergence of African cinema due to these film festivals and how that changed his conception of what African cinema was and could be.

 

Boughedir was inspired by the pioneers of African cinema and that led to him directing the vital documentary Caméra d’Afrique (1983) which looks at 20 years of African cinema. He followed that up with Caméra Arabe (1987), an insightful documentary that looks at the development of Arab cinema and its rise against a background of turbulent political pressures. Three years later, he made his fictional feature film debut with Halfaouine: Boy of the Terraces (1990), the award-winning film that thrust Boughedir into the global film festival limelight. After another 3 year gap, the lovely A Summer in La Goulette arrived but it would be more than a decade until his next film, Villa Jasmin (2008). Zizou followed 8 years later.

This long passage of time in between his movies also changed the medium of how I viewed his films. I saw Caméra arabe and Halfaouine on VHS tapes which I rented from a video store. Next, I saw A Summer in La Goulette on cable TV via Showcase channel’s weekly foreign film series (note: it was also on Showcase that I used to watch Cameron Bailey introduce cutting edge foreign/indie films on a weekly basis). And now, I have seen Zizou and the Arab Spring via streaming (Kanopy). This progression of watching films via different mediums feels appropriate when discussing Boughedir as he has been there to document the rise of African films from the initial days of 35mm film to digital streaming.

Coming of Age

Férid Boughedir’s critical coverage of African and Arab cinema in print and via film are essential for providing a gateway to understanding how cinema came of age in these two cinematic regions. In the above African film festival interview, Boughedir mentioned that he felt he had to document African cinema and their initial masters/pioneers first before he could even consider making his own first film even though the script for Halfaouine was already written before he directed Caméra d’Afrique. The wait proved worthy because Halfaouine: Child of the Terraces (1990) proved to be a watershed moment for his career and by extension Tunisian cinema itself. Based on some elements of Boughedir’s life, Halfaouine is a beautiful coming-of-age story that respectfully depicts the arise of sexuality, curiosity in a young boy.

 

Halfaouine is shown from the perspective of the young boy and as a result, political or sexual topics are rendered with a child like innocence. In the film, young Noura (Selim Boughedir, the director’s son) has been going with his mother to the local Hamam since he was a little boy but the mother has not realized Noura is growing up fast and developing an interest in girls and women. Noura’s eyes are wide open because he is staring at the naked girls and women around him and new feelings arise in him. Of course, he doesn’t understand these feelings nor does he fully grasp the world around him. In his case, ignorance is indeed bliss. Noura doesn’t understand anything about the dictatorship, or why people are getting arrested, why some are disappearing, or the writing of harmless slogans on the wall could get someone arrested. Noura’s goal in life is to understand the female species and to that end, he accomplishes his goal. 

 

After depicting the sexual awakening of a young boy, it appears natural that Boughedir’s next feature A Summer in La Goulette tackles the coming of age of teenage girls, aching to fall in love or having their first kiss and more. A Summer in La Goulette is bold, witty and funny. Again, Boughedir keeps political commentary on the fringes (the charged atmosphere leading to the 1967 war) while focusing on the quest of three teenage girls. The girls and their families all live in close quarters to each other and are mutual friends despite belonging to different religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism). The film smartly shows that no matter what religion the girls follow, their fathers are equally stressed and worried about their daughters; the fathers want to protect their daughters from the eyes of the local boys at all costs but they don’t realize that it is their daughters who are the ones eyeing boys with equal passion and lust in the first place.

 

 

Boughedir’s smart satirical style and coming-of-age elements that worked beautifully in Halfaouine and A Summer in La Goulette shine through in Zizou and the Arab Spring. Even though the main character Zizou (Zied Ayadi) is an adult, he has this child like innocence about him. This is because Zizou is from the village so he lacks any knowledge about the corrupt, crime laden city life and is oblivious that he is being lied to, or he is going to get robbed and as a result, he doesn’t even know which political side he finds himself on. At different points in the film, Zizou helps the president’s henchmen or the revolutionaries wanting to take the government down. He easily trusts people even though there are glaring warning signs. Through a series of events, Zizou finds himself working repairing satellite dishes. This allows him to be present on the roofs of people’s houses. As a result, one of the character addresses him as the king  of the terraces, which is a tribute to Halfaouine. In fact, one can easily believe that the Noura from Halfaouine would exactly be like Zizou. Another nod towards Boughedir’s film comes when characters are seen discussing a plan to visit La Goulette.

The political commentary that was on the fringes of Halfaouine and A Summer in La Goulette certain takes center stage in Zizou. In those earlier films, the political revolution and six-day war references are heard on the radio or via dialogues but in Zizou, the main character accidentally becomes the poster boy for the Tunisian revolution and in turn for the Arab Spring. There is plenty of charm and romance in the film and the comedic style is clearly a Boughedir signature. The satire and comedy is Zizou is not like the deadpan style of Aki Kaurismäki or Jim Jarmusch because in the film, the joke is only on Zizou. The other characters are clearly duping him and the audience is also in the know. It is a film that deserves a happy ending and thankfully Boughedir doesn’t disappoint.

Nacer Khemir's Desert Trilogy

Nacer Khemir’s Desert Trilogy:

Wanderers of the Desert (1986)
The Dove’s Lost Necklace (1992)
Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul (2005)

All three films have a wonderful myth + fable structure which incorporates motifs of journey and death. Music is also a key component and plays the biggest part in Bab’Aziz, a film infused with Sufi music. As the title of the trilogy indicates, the films are set against a desert background. In an interview, Nacer Khemir explains the beauty that comes with filming in a desert:

There is a Tuareg proverb that says: "There are lands that are full of water for the well-being of the body, and lands that are full of sand for the well-being of the soul." The desert is a literary field and a field of abstraction at the same time. It is one of the rare places where the infinitely small, that is a speck of sand, and the infinitely big, and that is billions of specks of sand, meet. It is also a place where one can have a true sense of the Universe and of its scale. The desert also evokes the Arabic language, which bears the memory of its origins. In every Arabic word, there is a bit of flowing sand. It is also one of the main sources of Arabic love poetry. In all of my three movies, which form a trilogy, The Wanderers of the Desert, The Dove’s Lost Necklace, and today, Bab’Aziz, The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul, the desert is a character in itself.

The Wanderers of the Desert

A bus drops a teacher off in the middle of the desert. The village that he is looking for doesn’t appear to exist.

But it does. The village exists even though it is mostly empty because the village men often disappear to wander off in the desert for days on end.

The concept of a journey is a key ingredient in The Wanderers of the Desert where characters yearn to leave for far-off lands, especially for Cordoba which is seen as the ultimate pilgrimage.

 
Myths and fables are found in almost every frame as the film feels similar to the multiple layered structure of One Thousand and One Nights. In fact, at certain moments, fairy tales manifest themselves into reality such as the appearance of Sinbad’s boat:

The Dove’s Lost Neckless

Hassan (Navin Chowdhry), a calligrapher, queries many wise men to gain their wisdom about the meaning of love. One elder tells Hassan that the Arabic language has 60 different words to describe love. At first, Hassan believes the discovery of all 60 words would bring him closer to an understanding of love. Unfortunately, he remains stuck at 35 words but his hopes are boosted by finding a single partly burnt page from a book about love. That page makes makes him yearn for the “Princess of Samarkand”, who haunts his dreams. He goes on a quest to find the book and perhaps his princess along the way.

The film is garnished with many thoughtful philosophical dialogues:

The Beginning is easy but the end is hard.

The above words are applicable to life and stories in general but they also perfectly describe the structure of all three films. The beginning of each film appears to be simplistic but the complexity of life is only revealed as the characters undertake a physical, emotional and spiritual journey. At the end of each journey, death greets one of the characters. But this death is not meant to be a final stop but just one of the paths in a cosmic journey that spans generations.

People often run after a dream. One day they run across it and don’t recognize it.

A basic truth where a person often loses sight of their goal during an exhaustive quest.

Bab’Aziz: The Prince who Contemplated his Soul

Unlike other trilogies, the third film of the Desert trilogy, Bab’Aziz, is the strongest work.

This is because the desert’s beauty comes through in virtually frame of Bab’Aziz. Also, the Sufi music against the background of giant sand dunes makes for a calm and mesmerizing experience.

Once Upon a Time....

These four words have started countless stories but they appropriately describe the Desert Trilogy as well. Each film contains scenes of story telling that peels off multiple layers of fables, myths or reality. Often, a character is mesmerized by a story they are listening to and slowly find themselves drifting into the realms of myth, where they in-turn become characters in stories that will be narrated to future generations.

Nacer Khemir deserves a lot of credit for creating a visually rich form of an ancient story telling tradition that is mostly lost in contemporary cinema.

It also seems appropriate that I came across two films in the trilogy in an old fashioned way by flipping through DVD racks in the library. With the disappearance of almost all rental DVD stores in the city, finding new films is down to online digital files. But my discovery of The Wanderers in the Desert and Bab’Aziz evoked memories of a time when DVD stores and the library played a big part in discovering gems. “Once Upon a time....” indeed!

Essential Reading

Chale Nafus, Director of Programming for the Austin Film Society, perfectly describes The Wanderers in the Desert, including the Arabian Nights references.

2012 African Cup of Nations Film Spotlight

The conclusion of the 2012 African Cup of Nations film spotlight. In the end, I was only able to view films from 10 of the 16 African nations that took part in the 2012 tournament.

Group A: 2 films

Libya: The Message (1977, Moustapha Akkad)

A lavish production that balances the story and teachings of Prophet Mohammed along with the political struggle that took place in the name of religion. The prophet cannot be shown in front of the camera and that limitation does not take anything away from the film as characters address the camera and repeat the words they have heard from the Prophet, thereby continuing their dialogue with him. Also, there are some incredible scenes such as the moment when the first call to prayer is announced while the battle scenes leave no stone unturned in terms of production values. The film has a consistent feel which is remarkable given how the production had plenty of troubles eventually resulting in Libya offering to allow filming to be completed.

Senegal: Madame Brouette (2002, Moussa Sene Absa)

A drunk man in a red dress walks into a home where a young girl and woman live. A few words are exchanged, a shot is fired, and the man stumbles out of the home and drops dead. A crowd gathers, a tv crew arrives and debates begin about what really happened. The rest of the film uncovers the events that led to that killing. A few soulful musical numbers are smartly integrated in the film and give some background to a character’s plight or feelings. Also, the music manages to lighten the overall mood of the film because the story depicts harsh realities of society, including corruption. The opening number (shown in the trailer), repeated at various intervals throughout the film, is memorable and appropriate in the film’s context.



Group B: 3 films

Angola: The Hero (2004, Zézé Gamboa)

Vitoria (Makena Diop), a war veteran, anxiously waits at the hospital everyday hoping to finally get a prosthetic leg. Even though he is a decorated war hero, he struggles to find a job so he believes a prosthetic leg will finally help him rejoin the workforce. Unfortunately, his prosthetic is stolen shortly after he receives it and he has no chance to get a replacement. A few people try to help him recover his prosthetic leg including a local politician who misuses Vitoria’s situation to garner some votes.

The film is set in Angola but the issues related to the ignorance of war veterans apply to many nations where politicians are distant from the human cost of war. In such nations, politicians don’t think twice about sending their nation’s civilians to war but then are quick to turn a blind eye when these same soldiers return from war. Vitoria wears his uniform with pride but his uniform wears him down and ends up becoming a burden on him because he finds that his service to his nation means nothing to those around him. So it is not a coincidence that Vitoria is shown to be happy when he is not in his uniform. The absence of his uniform indicates that he has rejoined civilian life and his burden has been removed.

The name Vitoria is similar to that of Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves) and that similarity is justified as Vitoria’s prosthetic leg is his ticket to employment like a bicycle is critical to a job in Bicycle Thieves.

Burkina Faso: Dreams of Dust (2006, Laurent Salgues)

Mocktar (Makena Diop) arrives in Essakane looking to work in a gold mine but he is told by a local that he has arrived almost two decades late as the gold has dried up. Still, the workers continue to work in the mine under the desert hoping to strike it rich. Mocktar hopes to put his past behind him in his new surroundings but he finds that the locals in Essakane are haunted by the past. Laurent Salgues manages to depict the state of the workers nicely by smartly mixing enough silent moments with appropriate expressions.

There is a moment in the film when a gold mine caves in, leaving the workers trapped underneath. Even though the camera never ventures into the mine, the accident has echoes of Yash Chopra’s excellent Kaala Patthar (1979).

As an aside, it is remarkable that two films in this group feature Makena Diop in the lead. In both films, he perfectly depicts the right emotion required for his character.

Ivory Coast: Adanggaman (2000, Roger Gnoan M'Bala)

Ossei (Ziable Honoré Goore Bi) is reluctant to marry as per his father’s wishes so leaves at night to go see his lover. While he is away, his village is attacked and everyone is taken as a slave, including his mother. Ossie manages to run away but decides to give himself up in order to save his mother. The story is based on true incidents related to slavery in 17th century when some African tribes captured other tribes and sold their prisoners as slaves overseas. The slaves that were kept alive and given enough food were ones that the captors felt could survive the long journey across the ocean. The brutal acts around slavery result in some powerful dialogues in the film such as

"The Whip will reign for a long time."
"Death lurks around us"
"Despair will shroud them, plunging them in horror."

Group C: 2 films

Morocco: Le Grand Voyage (2004, Ismaël Ferroukhi)

A father wants to make the pilgrimage to Mecca so he asks his son to drive all the way from France to Saudi Arabia. The son is initially not happy with his father’s decision but gradually gains a better understanding of his father as the journey progresses. The film manages to stand out from a traditional road feature by incorporating some engaging elements, such as the mysterious Eastern European woman the duo pick up. The woman’s mysterious disappearance and reappearance fits in perfectly as does the predictable actions of the Turkish man the son befriends. The journey ends up becoming a metaphor for life and each experience helps broaden the son’s mind. The end point of the journey at Mecca features the film’s strongest & most emotional moment.

Tunisia: Khorma (2002, Jilani Saadi)

Khorma (Mohamed Graïaa) is an easy going and friendly person but others around him often misunderstand him and look upon him suspiciously. In fact, others are just waiting for Khorma to slip up so that they can throw him into the fire. When circumstances result in Khorma making a mistake, the town waste no time in crucifying him. Yet, despite everything that happens to Khorma, he manages to shrug it off and dance freely.

Group D: 3 films

Botswana: The Gods Must be Crazy II (1989, Jamie Uys)

Growing up, I thought the concept of The Gods Must be Crazy was quite funny but unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the same formula in the sequel. This formula features multiple stories spliced together with an unseen narrator describing the actions of the local tribe. There is a cartoonish element to The Gods Must be Crazy II, highlighted by sped up frames, but the overall story is a weaker rehash of the first film.

Ghana: Life and Living It (2008, Shirley Frimpong Manso)

Shirley Frimpong Manso’s The Perfect Picture starts off with a marriage and looks at the quest of three friends to find a meaningful relationship in their lives. In Life and Living it, Manso explores at issues that come after marriage, such as affairs, conflicts, divorce and custody battle over a child.

Mali: Den Muso (1975, Souleymane Cissé)

Sekou, a young factory worker, wants to leave his job because after 5 years, he feels he has not made enough money. Even though his boss asks him to be patient, Sekou refuses to listen. Sekou turns out to be a womanizer and rapes Ténin, the boss’ daughter, and gets her pregnant. Ténin’s father disowns her because of the pregnancy as he believes she has brought shame to the family.

Den Muso (The Young Girl) is Souleymane Cissé’s first feature film and starts off with a thoughtful black and white sequence which shows men working hard at a construction site. The opening sequence contrasts with the rest of the film because Sekou wants to progress in his job but refuses to put in the hard work required. In this regard, Cissé depicts some aspects of a younger generation that demands things instantly without putting in the required effort. Also, the film sheds a light on treatment of women in society by its depiction of Ténin.

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Top 4 films

None of the 10 films ran away with the spotlight but a few films had some worthy moments. In the end, the following is the final preference order:

1) Burkina Faso, Dreams of Dust (2006, Laurent Salgues)
2) Senegal, Madame Brouette (2002, Moussa Sene Absa)
3) Morocco, Le Grand Voyage (2004, Ismaël Ferroukhi)
4) Angola, The Hero (2004, Zézé Gamboa)

There was no overlap with the final 4 of the soccer tournament:

1) Zambia: Their remarkable 8-7 penalty shoot-out win over Ivory Coast was emotional given that the victory took place in the same city where members of the 1993 Zambian team were killed in an airplane crash.

2) Ivory Coast: They ended the tournament without conceding a single goal as the final ended 0-0. They won all their previous 5 games by a score of 1-0 (vs Sudan), 2-0 (vs Burkina Faso), 2-0 (vs Angola), 3-0 (vs Equatorial Guinea) and 1-0 (vs Mali).

3) Mali

4) Ghana

African Film Spotlight, CAN 2012

In the past, I had to postpone an African Cup of Nations (CAN) Film spotlight due to the difficulty in tracking down an adequate number of films from the nations taking part in the tournament. That difficulty still exists and in a way, the 2012 tournament is more challenging than previous editions because of the high profile absences of Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Algeria. Much has been written about the footballing ramifications of the absence of these five countries especially since Egypt won the last three tournaments, Nigeria and Cameroon have been major forces in the region for the last two decades while Algeria took part in the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa. However, their absence is more serious from a cinematic point of view because Egypt and Nigeria are the two most prolific film producing African nations while in recent years South Africa and Algeria have contributed a good dose of worthy films. Thankfully, Mali and Senegal are present in this year’s tournament as they are a reliable source of films and it is also relatively easy to find films from Morocco and Tunisia. I decided to go ahead with a CAN spotlight because I was able to find atleast two films from each group.

Selection Criteria & Rules

This spotlight has the least amount of rules because of the hurdles involved in finding enough representative films. The selections can be from any decade and co-productions are essential requirements. There will be no head-to-head judging of films but I will write about the selections and then pick my three favourite entries at the end of the spotlight. Backup films will only be allowed in case I cannot find the entries below.

Group A

Equatorial Guinea: None
Libya: The Message (1977, Moustapha Akkad)
Senegal: Madame Brouette (2002, Moussa Sene Absa)
Zambia: None

Unfortunately, the co-hosts Equatorial Guinea are not known for their film industry although a documentary about the nation’s oil industry does exist.

Group B

Angola: The Hero (2004, Zézé Gamboa)
Burkina Faso: Dreams of Dust (2006, Laurent Salgues)
Ivory Coast: Adanggaman (2000, Roger Gnoan M'Bala)
Sudan: None

Ivory Coast are the soccer powerhouses in Group B and it would be a major shock if they didn’t win their group. However, in cinematic terms, Ivory Coast will have their hands full with the two other group entries.

There are a few foreign made documentaries about Sudan but no adequate direct or co-production entry could be found.

Group C

Gabon: Dôlè (2000, Imunga Ivanga)
Morocco: Le Grand Voyage (2004, Ismaël Ferroukhi)
Niger: Le Medicin De Gafire (1985, Mustapha Diop)
Tunisia: Khorma (2002, Jilani Saadi)

There is potential to see films from all four nations.

Group D

Botswana: The Gods Must be Crazy II (1989, Jamie Uys)
Ghana: Life and Living It (2008, Shirley Frimpong Manso)
Guinea: Dakan (1997, Mohamed Camara)
Mali: Den Muso (1975, Souleymane Cissé)

Like Group C, all 4 films might be present.

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The football tournament ends on February 12 but this spotlight will be allowed to run until March.