Several months after the LumiĂšre brothersâ first film projection in France, in 1895, the cinema made its first appearance in Tunisia and Egypt: film as a transnational phenomenon that embraced Africa became an immediate reality. The LumiĂšre brothers trained technicians to project their movies and to scour the world for new topics and places to shoot. Ever since, cinema has explored the world with impressive results. In 1897, in Tunisia, two young fans of technology, Albert Samama Chikly and the photographer Soler, organized the first film projections, beginning with public screenings and then continuing within private circles. As well as overseeing these screenings, Samama Chikly owned copies of the movies projected. He was thus a pivotal figure in the development of film in North Africa. Samama Chikly was born into a Tunisian Jewish family. He always had an interest in news and movies and he turned out to be a pioneering reporter. For his stage name, he chose the name of a Tunisian island, Chikly, which belonged to his father. He tirelessly travelled around the world, and photographed the different places he visited, attempting to capture their specific atmosphere. He soon became an expert with the camera and received international acclaim: in 1894, he received the âDiplĂŽme dâhonneur de lâExposition ImpĂ©rialeâ in St Petersburg; in 1900, at the Universal Exposition in Paris, he won the bronze medal for his contribution. In addition to this artistic recognition, Samama Chikly also received academic acclaim with three university degrees. Finally, in 1926, he received the âBrevet dâofficier dâAcadĂ©mie de lâinstruction publique et des Beaux-Artsâ from the French government (Mansour 2000: 43).
In 1909, Samama Chikly organized a âballoon-raceâ and filmed a short movie, composed entirely of aerial views shot from an altitude of 1200 m above Tunis, Hammam-Lif, and Grombalia. The success of this venture was related in an article in the newspaper La DĂ©pĂȘche Tunisienne, on 23 April 1909 (Mansour 2000: 32). Samama Chikly was the first Tunisian to shoot aerial views of his country. He would later shoot aerial views of Paris and declared proudly in La DĂ©pĂȘche Tunisienne: âI could shoot a movie above Paris [âŠ]. Since the beginning of the cinema, nobody has ever had the idea to do soâ (cited in Khlifi 1970: 27). In 1910, always looking for new and original locations and means of shooting a movie, he boarded a small submarine âBou-Kornâ and shot some sequences through the windows at a depth of 40 m.
Ain El Ghezal/The Girl from Carthage (1924)
Samama Chiklyâs talent continued to develop with his second movie Ain El Ghezal (although commonly known as The Girl from Carthage, the literal translation from the Arabic is âthe eyes of a gazelleâ). He began working on this movie in 1923 and completed it the following year. The film enjoyed moderate success at the time of its first public screening in Tunis. It relates the story of the eponymous Ain El Ghezal and her father Caid Bou Hanifa, a famous politician who wants to marry his daughter off to a rich Sheik. This forced marriage, arranged by the family, leads the girl to escape with the man she loves, a local teacher, Taleb: she commits suicide after her lover is tragically killed. When presenting Ain El Ghezal to the audience, the movie introduces a political angle as her father is cast as a powerful man through the first intertitle: âAin-el-Ghezal, the daughter of Caid, leader of the countryâ. The marriage between Caid Bou Hanifaâs daughter and the son of the Sheik demonstrates an alliance between power and politics.
In the scene where the marriage arrangement between the two fathers takes place, the intertitle reads: âFor Bou Hanifa to give away his daughter, Saada will give him twice as much money as is normalâ. The preference of the father for money, and the acceptance of the agreement by the rich landowner, conflict with the daughterâs true feelings, as she is in love with the school teacher. The marriage depicts the struggle between knowledge and financial power, as Taleb represents the symbolic capital of knowledge, while the landownerâs son Bou Saada represents economic capital.
The film shoot took place in and around Bey hall, the Kingâs palace in Carthage, a fact acknowledged in the first intertitle: âThis film with great authenticity was created partly in the palace and the gardens of Marsa official residence of the Bey: Sidi Mohamed Habib El Pacha, with his special authorization and his assistanceâ. Filming took place in the rooms and the gardens of the Kingâs palace. We are given an initial panoramic view of the house seen from the outside, surrounded by a large garden, inviting the viewer to participate in the story. The following scene introduces the protagonist in the natural environment, as we see her playing with her pet gazelle in the garden.
The film is not solely set in luxurious locations, but also looks to depict more everyday areas of the city, for instance in the scenes that follow in the Islamic school where Taleb is teaching.1 A reference to Islam and to praying is introduced in the first scene where Ain El Ghezal and Taleb are presented together. Taleb, who represents religious knowledge, is at the top of the mosque calling for prayer, while in front of him we see Ain El Ghezal, on the roof of a house, staring at him. The mosque and the actors are gradually revealed to the viewers. Later in the movie there is a long scene, divided into two parts, which is set in the Islamic school named âKoutabâ. When watching the movie today, it is evident that this division into two scenes happened more recently, most likely during the restoration work carried out on the original print in France in 1990: this division introduces inconsistency within the narrative and highlights some of the dangers involved when attempting to salvage lost film classics.
In the movie, the intertitle refers to the Islamic school as: âA very modern Islamic school taught in the outdoorsâ. The âKoutabâ does not aim to offer a full education or to be a modern school.2 The Islamic teacher has as his only goal the teaching of verses from the Koran to his pupils without encouraging commentary or discussion. Taleb, the teacher and the lover of Ain El Ghezal, is given a symbolic name, for a âtalebâ is a seeker of science and knowledge. This is not the only name in this movie that has a double meaning: for example, the name Saada (as in the character Bou Saada) is a name which in Arabic means happiness and joy, while in Hebrew it means help and assistance. In popular belief Bou Saada refers to a type of knife and the character is linked to brutality and violence: he is introduced in the intertitle as âSaada, the son of the regional Sheik [âŠ] authoritarian and brutalâ.
The conscious choice of the charactersâ names by Chikly is most evident in the choice of the name of the main character: Ain El Ghazel evokes the beauty of a gazelle, an elegant animal typically found in desert countries. In Arabic culture, one traditionally uses the image of a gazelleâs eyes as a metaphor for great beauty, but Ain El Ghazel is not a common name in Tunisia. The title is thus a clear reference to the beauty of HaydĂ©e Chikly Tamzali, situating her movie star quality within a concept of beauty located within the North African tradition. Ain el Ghezal is dressed in a very simple and traditional Tunisian female habit. These are often sleeveless tunics made of wool, cotton, or silk, depending on the circumstances: âSilver threads, sequins and stranded golden threads are the ornaments of all the womenâs clothes composed of: Kmajja (Shirts), Farmla (Vest), Jebba and KadrĂ»n (dress), Takrita (scarf), Koufiya (Hat), KmĂąm (Sleeves) and Kmajja El Kabira (wedding dress)â (Gargouri 2005: 21).
Since the traditional dress is characterized by a variety of specific types of embroidery that vary from one region to another, the dress of the main character indicates her Tunisian origin in general and not necessarily her specific region. In fact, closer scrutiny of her costume reveals a number of anachronistic details compared to the way that North African woman dressed in the 1920s, especially in Tunisia. This choice of clothes for the movie may in part be explained by the restricted budget that Samama Chikly had at his disposal at the time: in this context, it should be noted that the same dress was used twice in both The Girl from Carthage and Zohra. This practical decision also underlines that we are dealing with a fictional movie that is not overly concerned with verisimilitude, an aesthetic choice that would underpin much North African cinema of the following decades.
A similar approach underpins the use of jewellery, which represented the necessary complement of womenâs clothes. The headscarves are highly decorated with silk embroidery, silver pearls, and golden jewels. Ain el Ghezal is filmed laden with jewels, but this does not correspond to a local girlâs appearance in real life. In Chiklyâs film, the jewels represent âcodes, and bear reference to various communities. They serve as signs of ethnic identity, they are often passed from mother to daughter to ensure continuity between the living and the deadâ (Milet 2008: 164). The jewels worn by HaydĂ©e Chikly Tamzali in fact seem to be a reflection of the jewels usually worn by Jewish women. Samama Chikly as director equally seems to favour the style of clothing and make-up preferred by the Jewish community. He intentionally uses a mixture of traditional objects to reflect the melting pot of different cultures living together in North Africa.
This hypothesis is supported by the drawing (tattoo) of a scorpion on Ain El Ghezalâs forehead. The scorpion is a symbol of evil in Jewish culture, and in this case it is used to protect the individual against the evil eye.3 In terms of beliefs and traditions, there are two esoteric, traditional characters in the movie, Marabout and the Degaza. In Arab Islamic culture, the Marabout is a saint who, in his lifetime, was known to be a miracle worker.4 The Degaza is equally an important figure in the culture of North Africa and ubiquitous in the lives of Arabic and Jewish women:
The Degaza occupies an important place in the life of the Jews. When a Jew falls ill, or when a young girl cannot find a husband, or even when somebody is given to drinking bukha (whiskey) excessively, the blame is put on a jun (evil spirit). The Degaza is then called in, and casts a spell using coal. (Slouschz 1927: 283)
In the movie, the Degaza offers to tell Ain El Ghezal her future in which her marriage is foretold as we see her surrounded by numerous ladies and laden with jewels. Essentially, this âflash forwardâ is used by the director to suggest a potential future for the young girl, but it is one that does not come to pass, for in the end she chooses to take her own life, thereby challenging the authority of her father, which is not limited solely to the family, but also represents political authority. In this situation, she opposes patriarchal power and her actions constitute a rebellion against the political power of that period. Samama Chikly criticizes the contemporary political situation through this romance. Originally the movie ended with the death of the two main characters, Taleb and Ain El Ghezal; however due to the misplacement of the original footage, the sole existing copy of the movie ends with a meeting where they greet each other. Many books and movies depicts the impossible love story â e.g. Romeo and Juliet, Kais and Leila, Antar and Abla, Tristan and Isolde, Abelar and Eloise â and with this movie, Albert Samama Chikly created another classic with the impossible love story between Ain el Ghezal and Taleb.
Many years later, the topic of the arranged marriage, treated in this movie, would be reworked in a series of movies directed by Tunisian women, who would denounce the troubles associated with such relationships. In fact, from our historical vantage point, this movie appears as a pioneering work, anticipating the Tunisian feminist movement that started later in the 1930s with Tahar Haddad.5 As for his depiction of Tunisia, Albert Samama Chiklyâs movie highlighted the most beautiful places in the country, which he filmed in a luxurious, picture-postcard style. Critics might claim that Chikly was perpetuating an Orientalist vision of North Africa but, on the contrary, I would argue that he was attempting to create a cinema that would engage with local myths and cultures in ways meaningful to his local audiences. An indigenous North African cinema was born.