La Zerda ou les chants de l'oubli

La Zerda ou les chants de l'oubli
الزردة وأغاني النسيان
Directed by	Assia Djebar
Written by	Malek Alloula
Edited by	Nichole Schlemmer
Music by	Ahmed Essyad
Production company	Radiodiffusion Télévision Algérienne (RTA)
Release date	1982 (1982)
Running time	59 minutes
Country	Algeria
Languages	Arabic, French

La Zerda ou les chants de l'oubli (English: The Zerda and the Songs of Forgetting) is a 1979 avant-garde experimental documentary film directed by Assia Djebar.

Synopsis

Using archival photographs and film footage shot between 1912 and 1942 in the colonial Maghreb,^[1] Djebar composes an experimental film essay in which the soundtrack reveals what the images cannot express alone.^[2][3][4] The film becomes a historical account that gives life to the forgotten ceremonies (such as the Zerda festival) and repressed lifestyles of indigenous Algerians, while simultaneously questioning the influence of their colonial context on the representations they portray.^[5][6][7]

Production

The film was directed by Assia Djebar, and experimental in style.^{[8][9][10][11]} The film was one of two documentary films directed by Djebar^[12] during her decade-long hiatus from writing,^[13][14] in collaboration with poet Malek Alloula and Moroccan composer Ahmed Essyad.^[15][16]

Accolades

The film won the prize for Best Historical Film at the 1983 Berlin International Film Festival.^[17][18]

Existing copy

The original reels have disappeared, with the only remaining copy restored and digitised by the Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art [de] in Berlin.^[19]

References

1. Hillauer, Rebecca (2005). Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers. American Univ in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-424-943-3.
2. Appiah, Anthony; Gates (Jr.), Henry Louis (2010). Encyclopedia of Africa. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533770-9.
3. Toman, Cheryl (2007). On Evelyne Accad: Essays in Literature, Feminism, and Cultural Studies. Summa Publications, Inc. ISBN 978-1-883479-53-4.
4. Donadey, Anne (1 June 2017). Approaches to Teaching the Works of Assia Djebar. Modern Language Association. ISBN 978-1-60329-297-9.
5. Khanna, Ranjana (2008). Algeria Cuts: Women and Representation, 1830 to the Present. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-5261-9.
6. Harrow, Kenneth W. (1997). With Open Eyes: Women and African Cinema. Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-0143-5.
7. Murray, Jenny (2008). Remembering the (post)colonial Self: Memory and Identity in the Novels of Assia Djebar. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-03911-367-5.
8. The Zerda and the Songs of Forgetting, retrieved 28 November 2021
9. "Films | Africultures : Zerda et les chants de l'oubli (La)". Africultures (in French). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
10. "Watch La zerda et les chants de l'oubli | MoMA Virtual Cinema Streaming | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
11. Martin, Florence (2011). Screens and Veils: Maghrebi Women's Cinema. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-22341-8.
12. Vogl, Mary B. (2003). Picturing the Maghreb: Literature, Photography, (re)presentation. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-1546-8.
13. Shafik, Viola (2007). Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity. American Univ in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-416-065-3.
14. Kelly, Debra (2005). Autobiography and Independence: Selfhood and Creativity in North African Postcolonial Writing in French. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-0-85323-659-7.
15. "The Essay Film Festival". Retrieved 28 November 2021.
16. LEFFEST. "La Zerda ou Les Chants de L'Oubli / Films // LEFFEST'21 - Lisbon & Sintra Film Festival - 10 to 21 November 2021". LEFFEST'21 - Lisbon & Sintra Film Festival - 10 to 21 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
17. Welt, Haus der Kulturen der (11 March 2014). "La Zerda et les chants de l'oubli". HKW. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
18. "La Zerda ou les chants de l'oubli (Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting)". Wallach Art Gallery | Columbia University. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
19. "Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V." films.arsenal-berlin.de. Retrieved 28 November 2021.

External links

• La Zerda ou les chants de l'oubli at IMDb