settima

diaspora

Soleil Ô [Oh, Sun] (Med Hondo, 1970)

Dec

10

Human Rights Day

Soleil Ô (1970)

An optimistic Robert Liensol in the city of lights (via). DPs: François Catonné & Jean-Claude Rahaga.

Celebrating human rights on Human Rights Day: the right to work

“Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.”

– Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations General Assembly

A Mauritanian immigrant (Robert Liensol) too starts anew in Paris. But first, he'll need a job.

المخدوعون [Al-makhdu'un / The Dupes] (Tawfiq Saleh, 1972)

Nov

2

النَّكْبَة

Al-makhdu'un (1972)

The three men on top of the water truck (via). DP: Bahgat Heidar.

Starting over*

“A man with no country, will have no grave in the Earth, I forbid you to leave.”

– opening quote (via)

A few years after the start of the Nakba, three generations hope to make a new life for themselves. In the steel belly of a water truck, the men travel Palestine into Iraq, then crossing the desert towards the promised land, Kuwait.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.

Touki bouki [Journey of the Hyena] (Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1973)

Jun

23

National Pink Day

Touki bouki (1973)

Mory (Magaye Niang) and Anta (Myriam Niang) in romanticised European outfits. DP: Georges Bracher.

A character wearing pink on National Pink Day (USA), not to be confused with the much more poignant International Day of Pink

“Paris, Paris, Paris C'est sur la Terre un coin de paradis Paris, Paris, Paris, De mes amours c′est lui le favori Mais oui, mais oui, pardi Ce que j'en dis on vous l′a déjà dit Et c'est Paris, qui fait la parisienne Qu′importe, qu'elle vienne du nord ou bien du midi Et c'est aussi le charme et l′élégance Et l′âme de la France Tout cela, mais c'est Paris”

Joséphine Baker, Paris, Paris (Georges Zacharie Tabet)

Cowherd Mory and student Anta journey from Dakar to their new destination, the city of Paris.