"I saw Algeria again as it was thirty years ago"
May 2008 -Now that there is more peace and quiet in his native country, film maker Amor Hakkar sees space for the personal in Algerian cinema. Amor Hakkar was born in Algeria but has lived and worked in France for his entire life. "La Maison Jaune is a French-Algerian co production, but I would give it the Algerian nationality. It was filmed in Algeria, many of the actors are Algerian and the language is Berber. But technically and financially, I absolutely needed a French production company." ... continue reading
Hi, metta hallem/t,
The film akham awragh has been out for a while now. I urge the readers who had the chance to see the movie to share with us their impressions. Also, is the movie showing in Algeria?
Le DVD naissance d’une chanson raconte une rencontre improbable entre le compositeur Fayçal Salhi et la petite fille du film La Maison Jaune Aya HAMDI.
Aya Hamdi interprète dans le générique la chanson SOUSEM YA MAMI en chaoui.
Sur ce DVD nous les retrouvons tous les deux au Festival du Film Amazigh sur scène pour interpréter ce générique traditionnel accompagné du Oude de Fayçal.
Contact
Zipo : 33 (0)3 81 47 22 64
Hi, metta hallem/t,
Mark your calenders! The official release date is 5 March 08
Une cassette vidéo est le dernier souvenir vivant d’un fils disparu. Mais comment faire pour la visionner dès lors que l’on vit dans les montagnes des Aurès et que l’on a pas l’électricité? C’est l’aventure humaine, sensible et pleine d’espoir que vivra la famille de la Maison Jaune.
By Olivier Barlet
L'émotion : qu'est-ce qui permet à un film de nouer ainsi le ventre et faire pointer la larme à l'œil ? La pudeur. Simplement cette distance, cette épure, ce respect des êtres qu'Amor Hakkar développe d'un bout à l'autre de son beau film. Il est heureux qu'après quinze d'errance, il soit ainsi revenu à ce cinéma où la simplicité est la marque de fabrique et la finesse un programme. Scénariste et réalisateur, il interprète aussi cet homme à qui sa femme demande d'aller chercher le fils qui vient de mourir dans un accident de voiture. Et le voilà parti sur ce petit tracteur à remorque qui ne peut ne pas évoquer celui d'Une histoire vraie de David Lynch, mais la comparaison s'arrête là, avec peut-être aussi en commun la conviction que face à la mort point besoin de discours. Paysan du fin fond des Aurès, Mouloud est frustre mais il a la grandeur des hommes conscients. S'il retourne au champ, c'est que la vie continue et que lui seul peut faire en sorte que sa famille ne s'effondre pas. S'il va chercher le fils, avec une détermination qui force le respect de tous, c'est qu'il sent bien que c'est vital pour sa femme. Mais chemin faisant, dans la durée du déplacement et la richesse des rencontres, un deuil s'opère qui n'est pas donné à cette femme qui s'enfonce dans la désespérance. Les tentatives de thérapie qu'il développe sont alors autant des actes d'amour qu'une volonté de survie. Peindre la maison en jaune ne sera pas le moindre, tant il est vrai que la beauté du monde aide à surmonter son mystère... read more
La Mostra de Valencia vient de descendre les rideaux de sa 28e édition et l’Algérie termine avec la Palme d’or, la plus haute distinction, meilleure bande sonore pour «La maison jaune» de Amor Hakkar ....more
Congratulations to Amor! We wish him more success!
Hi, metta hallem/t,
I came across this item of interest. Titled AN UNKNOWN RACE, the film records some cultural aspects of Ishawiyen.
AMNH Research Library
Title An unknown race [videorecording]
Publisher New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1924.
Description : 1 videocassette (36 min.) : si., b&w ; 3/4 in.
Series : [Film Collection ; no. 283]
Note : Original format: 35 mm. negative.
Credits : John A. Haeseler, photographer.
SUMMARY
John A. Haeseler and Captain Melville William Hilton-Simpson, fellows of the Royal Geographic Society, made this film, which records the culture of the Berbers of the Aures Mountains of Algeria. The impenetrable massif of the Aures Mountains has helped the Berber people maintain their ancient manners and customs. This film depicts the geography of the Aures, Roman ruins at Timgad, the Tighanimine gorge, and the villages built on the tops of escarpments overlooking the Sahara with only a narrow, tortuously steep access route. Women of the fair-skinned Shawiya tribe of Berber stock, are seen grinding grain on a quern stone; combing, carding, and spinning wool; making pottery; and scrubbing laundry on stone by "dancing" on the cloth. They are also seen involved in the difficult task of fetching water up to the village. Children are depicted playing knucklebone, a jacks-like game, and what appears to be hockey. The men are seen irrigating their gardens by means of a water "clock," a copper bowl with a minute hole in its bottom, which is placed on top of water in a large bowl. It takes about fifteen minutes to sink. The number of sinkings is determined by the individual irrigation rights. After the alloted amount, the irrigation ditch (seggia) is dammed to divert the flow of water to another garden. The granaries are seen with their defensible facades. A man fashions wooden door locks with an adze (a cutting tool), while others tend goat herds, prepare snuff, and braid cord. This is one of the earliest ethnographic films made. Haeseler had been thinking about recording disappearing cultures on film and his association with Hilton-Simpson, during his years of studying the Berbers, proved a most timely and valuable relationship for both. The film is rich in detail, particularly in the weaving and pottery sequences.
Hi, metta hallem/t,
Do you want to know more about Hakkar's film?
No problem, all you have to do is visit the official site.
LEEDS, UK
The Carriageworks
Main Auditorium
12 November 07 @ 4pm
UK Premiere
Dir. Amor Hakkar
Algeria / France, 2007, 85 mins
A sublime and moving piece of filmmaking set in the arid landscapes of Algeria which tells the tale of a family who learn the eldest son has died in a car accident, away on military service. Father Mouloud immediately sets off to collect his body from the city for proper burial. Returning, he realises that his wife Fatima has fallen too deep into grief and tries everything to bring a smile to her face once again – nothing works. But then a mysterious plastic cassette is discovered among the boy's belongings...
_________________
APPEAL TO THE ALGERIAN COMMUNITY IN LEEDS
Please go see the movie and share with us your impressions. Thanks!
PS : Here is a clip from The Yellow House : akham awragh
Scene 1
Fatima : uguir awid memmi a lMiloud
Go bring my son, Miloud.
Miloud : ... lukane ma yekhs Rabbi ad'echa a3achwiT ...
I will be back tomorrow afternoon inchallah.
Fatima : aHrez imannek a lMiloud
Take care of yourself, Miloud.
Miloud : filamane
Goodbye.
Miloud(talking to the daughter) : roH awayed abidun
Go get me the water container.
The girls : baba baba
Father father.
Miloud : enthallat d'i yemmeTkum
Take care of your mother.
Scene 2
Taxi driver : Salam 3alikum,.... a nech .... Habseghed gherk
I recognised you, so here I am...
Miloud : yerHam waldik
Bless you.
Taxi driver : chek haqimed' ambane?
Is there a problem with your vehicle?
Miloud : lmotor igguma ad' yekker
Yes, The engine won't start.
Taxi driver : igguma ad yekker? waya d'aSanduq n memmik?
Won't start?, Is this the remains of your son?
Miloud : hih, hwaSlighihed
Yes, I brought him back.
Taxi driver : nech achromorkigh, achromorkigh gher lgarage
I will tow your vehicle to the garage.
Miloud : yerHam waldik
Bless you.
Taxi driver : .... adawigh asghrun...
I will get the rope
Miloud : yerHam waldik
Bless you.
Scene 3
Miloud : labess?
Are you ok?
Daughter : labess
I'm ok.
Scene 4
Daughter : baba fakregh f lHajet n triciti
Father, I was thinking about the idea of electricity.
Miloud : lmouchkil aya Targued Taghla fellanegh
There is a problem, it is going to cost us a lot.
Daughter : makcha hanTfuraj?
So how are we going to watch?
Miloud : arwaH, enna3na lpoto
Come on, let us go to the pole.
Daughter : akhzar a baba,dakitina yella triciti, ad najbed' falu, wa nnig labrachma, a3na lbaladia a baba a3na a rabba ach i3ayyach
Father, look there is electricity, we can get an extension, please father, go see the city hall.
Miloud : haya enroH...
Ok, let us go...
"There is among us a feeling of guilt toward women, because we know how much we oppress them; a strong feeling of guilt can be found deep within every Algerian man, and first of all toward his mother, because no Algerian man can forget how much our mothers suffer, how much they have suffered."
Kateb Yacine
Very moving!
Nadia's Journey
Description
As a young woman, Nadia Zouaoui vowed that her suffering would not be in vain. When she was 19, her parents forced her into an arranged marriage with an Algerian man twice her age living in Montreal. He had chosen her based on a photograph. Years later, she returns to Kabylie, Algeria to see if things are any different.
Her journey is a hellish voyage into a patriarchal culture backed by strict Muslim tradition, a society obsessed with female virginity that keeps women in servitude. She depicts with clarity and intimacy the cruelty endured even to this day by so many girls and women held captive in their homes. This deeply disturbing documentary provides a gripping experience for men and women, young and old alike.
Metta hallem/t,
-Hakkar's The Yellow House picked up three awards: the Don Quixote Award from the Fédération internationale des ciné-clubs (FICC), the Ecumencial Jury Prize and Third Prize from the Youth Jury.
-I was informed by Sarah Films that the yellow house will be available on dvd next year.
"...The movie of "la maison jaune" will be coming on DVD during the year 2008."
I cannot wait!
-Also, I came across this clip. During an interview, Amor was overwhelmed with emotions.
We love you, Amor!
Source : chawiland
BUT YOU CAN NEVER TAKE AURES OUT OF THE SHAWI
La Maison Jaune tells the story of a man who goes on his tricycle to find the corpse of his son. I myself also had to take my father’s remains from France to his native village in the Aurès. During those few days, I had to deal with a lot of red tape and the grief of men and women about whom I knew nothing at all. I was sustained by the compassion and helping hands of strangers. I loved those men and women, who, when all is said and done, were like me. I had almost forgotten I was a child of the Aurés. All these encounters, and my long walks in the area, a place that is both hostile and beautiful, prompted a deep and personal desire to make a film there.
Amor Hakkar
Here is a short clip from the film AKHAM AWRAGH
The daughter : baba fakregh f lHajet n triciti
Father, I was thinking about the idea of electricity...
The father : lmouchkil aya Targued Taghla fellanegh
This problem is going to cost us a lot...
The daughter : makcha hanTfuraj?
So how are we going to watch (the video)...
The father : arwaH, enna3na lpoto
Come on, let us go to the pole...
The daughter : akhzar a baba,dakitina yella triciti, ad najbed' falu, wa nnig labrachma, a3na lbaladia a baba a3na a rabba ach i3ayyach
Father, look there is electricity, we can get an extension, please father, go see the city hall...
The father : haya enroH...
Ok, let us go...
Dir/scr: Amor Hakkar*
Fr-Alg. 80mins (2007)
Shot in the Aures mountains, one of the more remote and arid regions of Algeria, The Yellow House is a worthy and particularly authentic representative of North African cinema that at the least can expect an extended list of festival. Refraining from any political statements or exploration of deeply human issues, Amor Hakkar's second feature film reads very much like a mournful version of David Lynch's The Straight Story, a road movie about a peasant riding his makeshift motorised tricycle all the way from his hovel in the mountains to the city morgue in order to retrieve his son's body... more
Read interview
* Born in 1958 in Aures, Algeria and brought up in France.
Filmography
1- « Timgad, la vie au cœur des Aurès », documentaire, 2002
2- « Sale temps pour un voyou », long métrage, 1992
