Tunisian Women to Watch
I recently discovered a groundbreaking group of female Tunisian filmmakers that are drawing international acclaim, but are barely heard of in their native land and I felt I just had to give them some kudos here!
Dora Bouchoucha, Kalthoum Bornaz, Nadia el Fani and Moufida Tlatli were names I’d never heard until I read a fantastic article in The Christian Science Monitor.
Tlatli is now one of Tunisia’s most famous directors, after her 1996 film “Silences of the Palace” earned her oodles of acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival. “Red Satin,” produced by Bouchoucha in 2002, was a hit in the US around the globe. Nadia el Fani’s “Bedwin Hacker,” released in 2003, portrays a computer-hacking Tunisian woman and earned her international admiration and accolade.
Bornaz’s current flick, “The Other Half of the Sky,” depicts the last remaining legal difference between men and women in Tunisia – inheritance laws. According to the Koran and Tunisian law, a daughter is entitled to half the amount of inheritance as her brothers.
Girls Against the Grain
The women’s films are full of cultural and political references to their native Tunisia, and are largely funded by the Tunisian government, but in a bizarrely cruel twist of fate, you’re unlikely to see them in any of Tunisia’s 27 cinemas.
Old Egyptian comedies and action flicks draw crowds to the big screen in Tunisia, leaving these brave women’s movies to the realms of European art house or American film festivals (not that that isn’t an accomplishment in itself, mind).
Setting the Scene
“These women are extremely political in their agendas,” Robert Lang, a professor of cinema at the University of Hartford, who is writing a book on Tunisian cinema, told the CS Monitor.
He goes on to explain how these incredible women set their flicks n the Medina, which dresses them for sale in Paris or the West, and set them in the past, as it evades the government censors.
“Tunisian cinema is unique in the Arab world because it’s unafraid to put sexuality at the front of the narratives.” Says Mr Lang.
Breaking the Mould
While distinctly feminine in their approach, Tunisia’s talented female filmmakers are quick to assert that they are not feminists. They insist they want to be known as great filmmakers, regardless of their gender.
A new generation of young filmmakers are now joining the ranks of these inspirational, unafraid Tunisian women, but their challenges go further than mere gender.
Bornaz tells the CS Monitor that lack of funding is the biggest challenge she is facing, rather than gender discrimination. Tunisian domestic interest in the big screen is also waning. Ten years ago there were 100 cinemas in Tunisia.
Concerned about the dwindle in Arab Cinema, Bouchoucha took matters into her own hands and set up an elite screenwriters’ program for Middle Eastern and African writers to build a regional talent pool.She notes that films from Asia or Iran are more popular with audiences, particularly in the West, where she says a negative image of the Arab world throws a wet blanket over the promotion of Arab films.
How great it is to know that women like these are out there working to counteract this unjustified stereotype.
