Tomorrow will take place the closing ceremony of the 29th Edition of Carthage’s cinematographic days (JCC). For a week, the Tunisian public and foreign guests invaded the cinemas to see the films offered. Juries members were also among them. In a few hours, the list will be revealed. Who will win the famous Tanit d’Or?
I was among the moviegoers to run from one projection to another. I would have liked to see all the films, including those who were out of competition, but of course it was impossible. I hope that many of these films will be distributed in Tunisia throughout the year and that we can see them.
Among the films I saw during this edition, those I preferred are:
– WeldiTunisian film directed by Mohamed Ben Attia. That Weldi Tell can happen to all of us. All parents, as ordinary or exemplary they can be, can one day wake up and discover that their children left. No one is immune. To give cramps to the stomach. Very moving. Excellent performance by Mohamed Edhrif, who also won the Best actor Prize for this role at the El Gouna Film Festival last September.
Synopsis
Riadh will soon retire to a coaster at the port of Tunis. With Nazli, they form a couple united around Sami, their only son who is about to pass the tank. Sami’s repeated migraines worry his parents. As Riadh thinks that his son is better, he disappears.
-YomeddineEgyptian film directed by Abu Bakr Shawky. A lesson in tolerance and humanity. Know how to live with the difference. A moving and sensitive film.
Synopsis
A leper, a Nubian orphan and their donkey leave for the first time the borders of the leper colony and traveled Egypt in search of their home, their family and their acceptance by them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jo6pmjhs3u
-Mergard mefilm directed by Nejib Belkadhi, and very well interpreted by Nidhal Saadi, Idryss Kharroubi and Sawsen Maalej. Lots of depth and emotions. The young Idryss played his role so well that a very large number of spectators believed that he was really autistic.
Synopsis
Lotfi, a Tunisian who lives in France, is forced to return to Tunisia to take care of his autistic child.
-Divine vergeAlgerian film, directed by Merzak Allouache. Although different and below what we could have expected from Merzak Allouache, the film is very beautiful. A certain slowness at the beginning, but that we quickly forget thanks to the beauty of the images. The use of black and white is perfect. Beautiful landscapes, but above all very beautiful close -ups on expressive faces. Two striking portraits of two young people who have switched to the other side….
Synopsis
The film explores the disturbed psychology of Amine, a taciturn young man living in a small Saharan village where he spends most of his time when reading the Koran and prayer before meeting Nour, a young jihadist.
-Supa modoKenyan film directed by Likarion Wainaina. Very moving. Follow a little girl sick in cancer in her last days and see the efforts of all the inhabitants of her village to make her happy. It is all the more moving that the film is inspired by a true story.
Synopsis
A little girl in the terminal phase experiences the rest of her short life as a superhero thanks to her family and her village.
–SofiaMoroccan film directed by Meryem Ben M’Barek. An interesting story, which once again highlights the hypocritical relationships of our Arab-Muslim societies with sex, and especially the relationship between appearing, money and taboo of sex outside marriage.
Synopsis
Sofia, 20, lives with her parents in Casablanca. Following a denial of pregnancy, she finds herself illegal by giving birth to a baby out of marriage. The hospital leaves him 24 hours to provide the child’s father’s papers before alerting the authorities …
–The unfinished trip, Syrian film directed by JOUD SAID. Very beautiful film. Beautiful sets, colors, joy … A breath of optimism in a country at war!
Synopsis
Baha’a is preparing to leave the city of Aleppo, torn by the war, to return to his hometown, with other travelers, he will have to stop because of the fighting in progress. Foreigners to each other, they will try to bring a destroyed village to life while waiting for the end of the war. Would she end one day?
The unfinished trip just won the prize Fipresci JCC 2018.
Among the documentaries I have seen, two particularly interested me:
–AmalEgyptian film directed by Mohamed Siam, who will follow a revolutionary young woman from 2011 to 2017. We will follow her step by step, in her joys, disappointments…
Synopsis
Amal (which means hope) is a rebellious teenager confronted, in a post-revolution Egypt, to rapid upheavals of society and to the discovery of herself. For 6 years, Amal seeks her place, her identity and her sexuality in a society dominated by men.
–From father to sonSyrian film directed by Talal Derki. A film that immerses us in the nightmare world of Daeshians. It hurts to see these little children that we prepare to be killers in the name of an extremist ideology. These children are not fortunate enough to go to school, nor to know beauty, literature, life … We teach them to handle weapons, make or defuse bombs, slaughter beasts and human beings, despise women, prepare for “jihad”. Children victims. Future terrorists….
Synopsis
Talal Derkin back in his country, succeeds in gaining the confidence of a radical Islamist family, and shares their lives for two years. Its camera focuses mainly on children, providing a very rare overview of what it means to grow with a father whose dream is to implant the Islamic caliphate.
Neïla Driss
Read on the same subject:
– Carthage 2018 Cartham Cinematographic Days in Figures
– JCC 2018 – Nine Tunisian films in official competition
– JCC 2018 – projects selected as part of Chabaka 2018
– The JCC, a festival created by moviegoers for moviegoers
– JCC 2018 – The festival will take place as planned
– JCC 2018 – A poster in tribute to Youssef Chahine.
– After its success at the 2018 JCC, the Egyptian film Yomeddine distributed in Tunisia
