Cinema
The Shadow of the Earth
ظل الأرض
Taieb Louhichi · 1982
Synopsis
On a border site in Tunisia, the last members of an isolated community live in a camp of four tents and a sheepfold: the patriarch, his son, his nephews and their families. The wheat runs out, an unknown disease decimates the livestock, and the men leave one by one, for the army or to look for work abroad. Soon only the patriarch and his daughter-in-law remain in the camp.
Context
Louhichi's first feature film, which he wrote and produced, the film brings together the Satpec, Tanit Production, Les Films Molière and the German television channel ZDF; Ramon Suarez is responsible for the cinematography, Moufida Tlatli the editing, Egisto Macchi the music and Nacer Khemir the sets. Mouna Noureddine, Despina Tomazani and Hélène Catzaras play the roles. Shot in Arabic, in colour and on 35 mm, it runs eighty-five minutes according to the filmmaker's website, eighty-nine according to Unifrance, and was released in France on 17 November 1982. The story shows a community threatened by nature, the border and the central power, and calls up legends of Arab and foreign invaders.
Who it is for
A slow, lyrical film on the end of a pastoral way of life, accessible without prior knowledge of Tunisian sociology.
Prizes and reception
Selected for the Cannes Critics' Week in 1982, prize for best screenplay at the Ouagadougou festival in 1983, Golden Ducat at Mannheim.
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