LES DISEURS D’HISTOIRES
LES DISEURS D’HISTOIRES
a documentary film by Mohammed Soudani
Switzerland/Italy 1998, Digi Beta, 90′, o.v. French
Festivals & Prizes
51. Locarno International Film Festival, 1998
13. Festival international du film francophone, Namur 1998
42. London Film Festival, 1998
15. Festival international de Ciné de Mar del Plata, 1999
Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage, 2000
Synopsis:
A film resembling a journey in which meeting follows meeting. From the land of the Pharaohs to the ebony nations beyond, the “storytellers” hide. Why bother to tell stories? “It is absolutely necessary,” one will tell you. Another will say “I don’t know how to do anything other than make films”. “The journey is long and full of dangers, with many obstacles” states a cinema celebrity. Other statements: “I want to develop by doing other things” – “I couldn’t care less about the public” – “Many Westerners want us to produce the images they like to see” – “It should be understood that the cinema is an industry” – “I have never understood why I fight to make a film” – “Useless festivals that glorify the exotic and pay no attention to those who want to exist and just be themselves” – “A difficult struggle, but interesting” – “Conflict between generations is inevitable. We have to exist… through storytelling”. Today Africa has to fight back. One of its weapons is its culture, its identity.