|
Finally available in the United States, this classic film from acclaimed
novelist/ filmmaker Assia Djebar is essential viewing for an understanding of
women in Algeria. Taking its title and structure from the “Nouba”, a
traditional song of five movements, this haunting film mingles narrative and
documentary styles to document the creation of women’s personal and cultural
histories. Returning to her native region 15 years after the end of the
Algerian war, Lila is obsessed by memories of the war for independence that
defined her childhood. In dialogue with other Algerian women, she reflects on
the differences between her life and theirs. In lyrical footage she
contemplates the power of grandmothers who pass down traditions of
anti-colonial resistance to their heirs. Reading the history of her country as
written in the stories of women’s lives, Assia Djebar’s La Nouba des Femmes
du Mont-Chenoua is an engrossing portrait of speech and silence, memory
and creation, and a tradition where the past and present coexist. Widely hailed
as one of the most important figures in francophone Maghrebian literature,
Djebar is the author of more than a dozen books, including A Sister to
Scheherezade and Women of Algiers in Their Apartment. She is
currently Professor and Director of the Center for French and Francophone
Studies at the Louisiana State University.
A Women Make Movies film. 115 minutes.
|
