Selma Baccar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 15, 1945 Tunis |
| Occupation(s) | filmmaker, producer and politician. |
| Notable work | Fatma 75 (1976), El niño de la luna (1989), Khochkhach (2006) and El Jaida (2017). |
Selma Baccar or Salma Baccar (born December 15, 1945) is a Tunisian filmmaker, producer and politician. She is considered the first woman to make a featured length film in Tunis. [1] [2] Baccar is known for creating manifestos through her films, centered around women's rights in Tunisia. [1]
Selma Baccar was born on December 15, 1945, in Tunis. Her family moved to Hammam-Lif when she was seven year old. [1] Baccar was raised as a Muslim by her parents and has done the pilgrimage to Mecca with her family twice; however, Baccar identifies as agnostic. [1] She began to study psychology in 1966 to 1968 in Lausanne, Switzerland. She relocated after 2 years to study film in Paris at Institut Français de Cinéma. [3] She then became a member of the Tunisian Federation of Amateur Filmmakers (Fédération Tunisienne des Cinéastes Amateurs, FTCA), where she worked as an assistant director for a Tunisian television series. [1] [3]
At the age of 21, Baccar began to create short films in 1966, along with other women at the Hammam-Lif amateur film club. [1] Her films revolve around women's issues and rights in Tunisia. Her first short film, made in 1966, was a black and white film called L'Eveil, that tackled women's liberation in Tunisia. L'Eveil later received accolades. Baccar directed her first full-length feature film in 1975 titled Fatma 75, viewed as a "pioneer film" in Tunisia. [4] This was the first full-length feature film directed by a woman and characterised as "a feminist essay film about women's roles in Tunisia." [5] The film uses a didactic style film that addresses feminism in Tunisia [1] and was banned for several years, due to censorship issues in multiple scenes, by the Tunisian Ministry of information, and could not be viewed in commercial movie theatres. [3]
Her second full length film, Habiba M’sika (1994), was a biopic of a famous Tunisian singer and dancer, Marguerite Habiba Msika. [3] Flowers of Oblivion told the story of Zakia, an opium addict in a psychiatric hospital in Vichy-ruled Tunisia in the 1940s. [2] The director owns her own production company under Intermedia Productions alongside other notable female directors, to make films and commercials. [3] Baccar also has produced a number of short films. [6]
Baccar's activism for Tunisian women's rights led her to an active political career and she became a member of the Al Massar political party. [7] In October 2011, Baccar was elected a member to the Constituent Assembly [8] In 2014, she was promoted from vice-president to president of the parliamentary group of Democrats in Tunisia, "the first and only woman to chair a parliamentary bloc." [7]
Cinema of Africa covers both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels were the primary cinematic technology in use. As there are more than 50 countries with audiovisual traditions, there is no one single 'African cinema'. Both historically and culturally, there are major regional differences between North African and sub-Saharan cinemas, and between the cinemas of different countries.
Hammam-Lif is a coastal town about 20 km south-east of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been known since antiquity for its thermal springs originating in Mount Bou Kornine.
The cinema of Tunisia began in 1896, when the Lumière brothers began showing animated films in the streets of Tunis.
Moncef Dhouib is a Tunisian film director, actor, screenwriter and producer and puppeteer. He is a recipient of the FESPACO award. After making four notable short films in the 1980s he made The Sultan of the City (1993) and The TV arrives (2006).
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Kalthoum Bornaz was a Tunisian screenwriter, film editor, and director who belonged to the first generation of women filmmakers in Tunisia. She was born in Tunisia on 24 August 1945 and moved to France in order to continue her education abroad. She worked both in Tunisia and overseas on the development of many feature-length films as an editor and director.
Habiba Msika, also spelled Messika, , was a Tunisian singer, dancer and actress. Born Marguerite Msika, she was the niece of singer Leila Sfez.
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Ateyyat El Abnoudy, also known as Ateyyat Awad Mahmoud Khalil, was an Egyptian journalist, lawyer, actress, producer, and movie director. She was born in a small village along the Nile Delta in Egypt. El-Abnoudy was considered to be one of the pioneering Arab female movie directors as her films inspired the works of many Arab women in the industry. She has been called the "poor people's filmmaker" due to the subject matter that inspired her to make films, including civil rights issues and the condition of impoverished Arabs.
Albert Samama Chikly, was a Tunisian filmmaker and photographer. Considered one of the earliest pillars in World Cinema, Albert was a photographer, filmmaker, technophile, adventurer, and cyclist.
Khaled Ghorbal is a Tunisian filmmaker and screenwriter.
Naima El Jeni is a Tunisian actress. She was a stage actress before she began filming in 1990. Her daughter Oumayma Ben Hafsia is also an actress.
Dar Joued was a religious women's prison in Tunis, Tunisia, housing women who had been ruled to be insubordinate or rebellious. Its existence spanned from the 16th century until the mid-20th century, reflecting and enforcing societal norms concerning gender roles and marital obedience within the Islamic legal framework of the time.
The Hammam-Lif Palace was a winter residence of the Tunisian Beys, in Hammam-Lif, Tunisia. It was a favourite residence of the Husainid dynasty, but it is now in an advanced state of dilapidation.
The Festival International du Film Amateur de Kélibia is an annual international film festival for amateur filmmakers at Kélibia, Tunisia. It was founded in 1964 as the oldest film event in Tunisia and is organised by the Fédération Tunisienne des Cinéastes Amateurs. The Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the town of Kélibia lend their support. A number of later well-known filmmakers debuted at FIFAK, such as Salma Baccar (Tunisia), Ridha Behi, Ahmed Ben Kamla, Ferid Boughedir (Tunisia), Sheila Graber (Great-Britain), Nanni Moretti (Italy), and Diego Rísquez (Venezuela).
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