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Zohra (film)

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Zohra
Restored version of the film
Directed byAlbert Samama Chikly
Written byHaydée Chikly
Produced byAlbert Samama Chikly
StarringHaydée Chikly
Running time
35 minutes
CountryTunisia
LanguageFrench intertitles

Zohra is a 1922 silent 35 mm short film from Tunisia by Albert Samama ('Chikly').[1][2][3][4] It was the first indigenous North African film production.[5] The movie script was written by Chikly's daughter, Haydée Chikly, who also edited and starred as the key female protagonist in the film.[6][7][8][9]

Plot

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Haydée Chikly as Zohra

The plot of the movie evolves around a shipwrecked young French woman, who is rescued by Beduins. She lives with the Beduin tribe for a time. She is later abducted by bandits, but is rescued by a French aviator and reunites with her family.[10] Tribal customs are displayed in detail in the film.[1][11] The movie is seen as an example of the 'mysterious Orient' genre.[3]

Reception

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The film was screened at the Omnia Pathé cinema in Tunis, and enjoyed a degree of success.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b Les cinémas d'Afrique: dictionnaire. KARTHALA Editions. 2000. p. 409. ISBN 978-2-84586-060-5.
  2. ^ Lizbeth Malkmus; Roy Armes (1991). Arab and African film making. Zed Books. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-86232-916-7.
  3. ^ a b Kenneth Perkins (20 January 2014). A History of Modern Tunisia. Cambridge University Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-107-02407-6.
  4. ^ Annette Kuhn; Guy Westwell (21 June 2012). A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 494. ISBN 978-0-19-958726-1.
  5. ^ Terri Ginsberg; Chris Lippard (11 March 2010). Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8108-7364-3.
  6. ^ Roy Armes (2008). Dictionary of African Filmmakers. Indiana University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-253-35116-6.
  7. ^ Roy Armes (2006). African Filmmaking: North and South of the Sahara. Indiana University Press. p. 25. ISBN 0-253-21898-5.
  8. ^ Roy Armes (29 June 1987). Third World Film Making and the West. University of California Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-520-90801-7.
  9. ^ Roy Armes (2005). Postcolonial Images: Studies in North African Film. Indiana University Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-253-21744-X.
  10. ^ "A cinema history". Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  11. ^ "The Jewish Quarterly". The Jewish Quarterly. No. 197–204. Jewish Literary Trust. 2005. p. 58.
  12. ^ POUILLON François (1 November 2008). Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française. KARTHALA Editions. p. 863. ISBN 978-2-8111-4099-1.