Welcomed by a standing ovation during its projection in competition in the A certain look section during the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, the Tunisian film Harka is a real punch, an overwhelming and committed work which highlights the difficulties encountered by a youth in search of a better future, in Tunisia. Through the character of Ali, Lotfy Nathan the director, transports us to a daily reality made of injustices, frustrations and anger, which struggles to find a outlet.
The film takes place in the city of Sidi Bouzid, an emblematic place of the 2010 Tunisian Revolution, and the famous immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, who deeply marked the spirits. The director is freely inspired by this story to give life to his main character, Ali, a young man who sells the essence of smuggling to support his family, after the death of his father.
Harka is carried by the exceptional performance of the young actor Adam Bessa, who embodies with accuracy and sensitivity the anger and the frustration of a young man who suddenly finds himself confronted with responsibilities which exceed him. We feel all the pain and the rage that he experiences in the face of a society which gives him no chance of getting out of it, and which seems to want to suffocate it, and leave him only one solution: the Harka. But what Harka ?!*
The film tackles with great accuracy the social and economic problems that undermine Tunisia, ten years after the Revolution. It shows the difficulty for young Tunisians to find a job, to find accommodation decently, and to provide for their family. The institutions seem completely helpless in the face of these problems, and Ali is constantly confronted with bureaucracy walls, which refuse him all help.
Although the story is trivial and the theme has been addressed many times in Tunisian films and serials, the simplicity of the narration moves in this work. What distinguishes this production from others is the sobriety with which it is told.
In addition, Ali’s character is also different from the typical characters that we meet in the films made by Tunisians. He is an honest and responsible young man who tried everything to succeed, but has come up against a wall of incompetence and incomprehension. It is also touching in more ways than one. He is healthy and never gave in to delinquency, drugs or theft, despite the difficulties he encountered. He tried to earn a living honestly, in a country where the State offers no help, jobs, advice, or assistance of any kind. On the contrary, even, Ali is the victim of the racketeering of a police officer who acted with impunity, under everyone’s eyes.
Despite all these difficulties, Ali has remained generous and responsible for his sisters. He could have abandoned them and leave, but he did not do it. Instead, he sent them to their big brother, by offering them all his savings. This is what makes the beauty of this work: a humble and courageous character who remains straight in his boots in the face of the trials of life.
During the presentation of the film, Thierry Frémaux, the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, asked if the film was really Tunisian, since the director is American of Egyptian origin.
In reality, Lotfy Nathan although not being Tunisian, had spent enough time in the country to assimilate his culture and customs, which allowed him to make a realistic and just film. To prepare his film, he visited Tunisia several times. In 2015, he had even lived in Sidi Bouzid for a while, and had several friends there. This stay was an opportunity to soak up the city, its inhabitants and its collective memory. This is what allowed him to adopt a tone so “just” and so realistic in his film and to be able to direct his team as well. Perhaps it is due to his experience as a documentary director? He had also been so steeped in Sidi Bouzid that it was himself who had given the guidelines for costumes and make-up so that the characters comply with the inhabitants of Sidi Bouzid. The result was so realistic that the characters were identical to the real inhabitants.
The tone was so authentic that the Egyptian critic Tarek Elshinnawi said that Harka is the most beautiful film he saw in Cannes 2022 in two days.
It is regrettable that for such a Tunisian film in competition, there was no representative of Tunisia in the room. No one, not even a CNCI representative. There was also no professional in Tunisian cinema. The Tunisian co -producer of the film having had an impediment and could not make the trip to Cannes.
Neïla Driss
*The harka In Tunisian dialect has two senses: fire immolation, or illegal immigration. The two senses are valid in this film.
