2023-05-24 19:08:36
In addition to her presence in the official competition for Cannes with a movie “girls of intimacy” Directed by Kawthar Ben Hania, Tunisia is participating in the screenings of “Acid”, the “Independent Cinema Publishing Association”, with a documentary film, titled “Mashat”, directed by Sonia Ben Salama.
The film stops at a women’s musical group, which performs traditional songs that are unique to the region. It is an art in itself, and the director decided to shed light on it cinematically, by virtue of what she recorded of the artistic injustice practiced against these women.
They are not considered by people to be musicians, although they have been practicing this profession for decades, the figure of Fatima as an example. Ben Salama wanted to honor them with this work as well.
Fatima and the members of her group struggle with time in order to secure their livelihood through this musical work, which is indispensable at local weddings in the Mahdia region, south of the capital, Tunis. In addition to music, these women practice agricultural work in the winter.
More about the film and the director’s aspirations in the following interview:
- FRANCE 24: What does your presence here in Cannes mean to you, with your film “Al-Mashatat”?
Director Sonia Bensalamah: I never thought I’d be here in Cannes with this movie. I started doing it on my own, and with the passage of time I found myself surrounded by a team, from producer, cameraman, sound engineer… However, honestly, I never imagined that I would be in Cannes with this movie. And to be here today is something special for me. And it is an opportunity for any director… It is an acknowledgment of this effort that was behind the work, especially since those who choose films are directors.
- “Mashat” is your second documentary after “Maktoub”. In the two films, you address the issue of marriage. Why this topic?
In fact, I did not want to deal with the issue of marriage… While I was photographing the wedding of a close relative of mine in my first work “Maktoub”, I met “Al-Mashaat”, and therefore I did not want to raise the marriage itself, but the two works presented it from different angles. It is a strange thing that I found myself in the matter of marriage without my purpose being one day as such.
- Do you keep bringing up the issue of marriage in your future work?
She smiles… I don’t know, maybe…
- Was the film, for you, a tribute to these women and this traditional music in the Mahdia region in southern Tunis?
Yes, my goal, as in the first film, was to give them a voice and a place for their music to be heard. The combers – I don’t know if you know that – their presence is essential at weddings in the Mahdia region, and a wedding ceremony cannot be held without their presence. True, in other Tunisian regions it may be different, there are other music and traditions. But in Mahdia, this is a tradition in force, and it is not possible to organize a traditional wedding in the absence of these musical bands from Al-Mashat. They work in the winter in the fields, and in the summer they do weddings. They use darbuka and bandir in their music. But people think that they are not musicians, knowing that everyone knows that they play and sing.
- The character of Fatima was introduced in the film, and she is a real character, and this woman is shown by the film to be strong and courageous. She struggles with time for a living while training her two daughters and integrating them into her singing group. What does this woman mean to you?
She is a woman who works a lot as a “haircutter”, that is, a musician, and at the same time she does small jobs, working in the fields, working in the olive harvest… She does a lot of things in order to ensure her daily strength and that of her family. She does not employ many girls in her group, but she trained her two daughters to work alongside her. She has been doing this work as a musician for more than forty years.
- Did she judge her two daughters to work with her as “comb combs”? Is this their inevitable destiny?
They are originally peasant workers, and working with their mother in the “mashat” will guarantee them an additional income. I think for Fatima, training her two daughters means giving them a better life. Because they get much more money than they make from farming.
- There is another woman in the film called Najah – she is a divorced mother of two children – and her age is close to forty. As another example of women in Tunisia and perhaps the Arab world, they are doomed to stay the way they are without any chance to rebuild their lives. Why did you choose this character?
Success carries within her this hope of remarriage. And she has a desire to one day find a husband and start a new life with him. But it is society that imposes a way of life on it. He is the one telling her, ‘You are too old to marry again.’ You have two children, you are 37 or 38 years old, you are very old. And now the hope that remains for you is to find a very old man or a man who has lost his wife’… And I wanted to show this event, and show it in the film because it happens to women today. A woman who is still young, loves life, radiates hope… She cannot marry a second time, because society believes that a woman in her age has ended and has already been used… It is terrifying that all this is said against her.
- Is the film a specific diagnosis of the situation of women, not only in Tunisia, but also in other Arab countries through different personalities?
For me, this diagnosis is not limited to Arab women only. I think it includes a lot of communities.
- You mean the West as well?
In the West, too, this pressure to marry and have children is very strong in the West. For a woman at the age of 38 and without children, this means that she has to bear the pressures of her environment and society as well. Everyone warns her that she is too old and that she should have children. Indeed, there are a group of things that facilitate life for women in Europe, where European women can build a love relationship with a person without necessarily being married, and they can get to know the person before they commit to a relationship with him. However, what is said in the film also concerns my friends in France, and therefore these pressures do not concern only women in the Arab world, but women in general.
- You and Kawthar Ben Hania, both of you touched on women and their struggle with life, albeit from two angles and with two different topics. But you both used the documentary in your work? Is it the best way to delve into the issues of modern Tunisia?
I don’t know if it’s the best way, but for me I prefer the way I feel like I’m going to do the movie better. Reality is rich, and in many cases it makes us richer than imagination. I don’t think I could have written characters like those that exist in reality, nor would I have the audacity to write characters like this from my imagination.
- You are Tunisian and French. But the observer focused in your work on your country of origin, Tunisia. Why this choice? Will you tell the audience a cinematic day, a French-French story?
In fact, at the moment there are no French stories that inspire me. What inspires me the most is Tunisia and I have strong relations with it. There is no film I would like to make with a French theme.
- So you will continue making films with Tunisian themes?
Yes… I have a film project in the US that is still in its infancy. His story takes place in a small town in the United States, somewhat similar to Mahdia the Tunisian.
- What movie do you dream of doing one day?
A moment of silence from the director before she answered.
The movie that I dream of making one day… You know? The movie I dream of making one day. I dream of making a film about Anas Jaber. I hope you will read this interview.
- The Maghreb presence in the Cannes Festival is important in this session. Is it an indication that cinema in the countries of the region is fine?
I hope so. There is also Maghreb and African cinema. I have a feeling that there are voices rising and that this cinema is about to confirm its presence in the global demonstrations. And this is very nice, I think there is a great desire to make films about the countries in which we live or those to which we have a special connection. There is a definite desire among young people to make films, and thanks to festivals such as Cannes, these films can strengthen their presence and have a real position.
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