New Tunisian Cinema

Robert Lang is professor of cinema at the University of Hartford. He is the author of Masculine Interests: Homoerotics in Hollywood Film and American Film Melodrama: Griffith, Vidor, Minnelli and the editor of The Birth of a Nation: D. W. Griffith, Director. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of Tunis from 1993 to 1994 and from 2001 to 2003.

Lang's impressive study is a valuable and timely achievement. Through subtle and rich close readings of eight films released between 1986 and 2006, he examines how contemporary Tunisian filmmakers resisted authoritarianism in both the public and private spheres of their society and successfully forged a national cinema that sought to keep in sight the secular and modern vision of their country's founding intellectuals. -- Hakim Abderrezak, University of Minnesota Well written and well researched, this book draws on a variety of fields to offer clear readings of eight key films. The decoding of these films as allegories of political resistance is well argued and draws on an immense wealth of knowledge both theoretical and practical. -- Florence Martin, author of Screens and Veils: Maghrebi Women's Cinema Robert Lang's New Tunisian Cinema is a timely and impressive examination of some of the most politically engaged films made during the Ben Ali era. This is the book I and many others have been waiting for-it fills a long overdue need to approach Tunisian cinema with both historical accuracy and theoretical rigor. It deserves to be widely read. -- Nouri Gana, editor of The Making of the Tunisian Revolution New Tunisian Cinema offers penetrating readings of eight Tunisian films made between 1986 and 2006 that elaborate a mode of cultural resistance. The films are anchored in their social and political context, and the analyses take up the 'national question' through the filmmakers' vision of their society's problems. This original work enriches our understanding of the political and cultural history of Tunisia and sheds new light on the implications of a 'Revolution' that holds up a mirror to us. -- Kmar Bendana, University of La Manouba, Tunisia Carefully researched and documented, and backed by Lang's strong theoretical knowledge, this original contribution is an excellent addition to the "Columbia University Film and Culture Series". Choice Lang's study is erudite, well written, and compelling, and offers students of Arab cinemas a welcome set of inquiries to inspire further studies of the works and themes he addresses. -- Kamran Rastegar International Journal of Middle East Studies As the first monograph published in the US on Tunisian cinema, Lang's book fills a major gap in scholarship... This excellent study is accessible to students and enriching for scholars interested in North African studies. It will be sure to stimulate further scholarship on the rich production of Tunisian cinema. -- Mohammed Hirchi Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies An excellent introduction to the themes and filmmakers that make Tunisian cinema stand out. -- Eoin Bell-Games Film Matters

• Preface Acknowledgments 1. The Nation, the State, and the Cinema 2. "The freedom to be different, to choose your own life": Man of Ashes (Nouri Bouzid, 1986) 3. Laughter in the Dark: Sexuality and the Police State in Halfaouine (Ferid Boughedir, 1990) 4. Sexual Allegories of National Identity: Bezness (Nouri Bouzid, 1992) 5. The Colonizer and the Colonized: The Silences of the Palace (Moufida Tlatli, 1994) 6. "It takes two of us to discover truth": Essaida (Mohamed Zran, 1996) 7. "It takes a lot of unruly individuals to make a free people": Bedwin Hacker (Nadia El Fani, 2002) 8. Inventing the Postcolonial Nation/Constructing a Usable Past: The TV Is Coming (Moncef Dhouib, 2006) 9. "Destiny answers the people's call for life, darkness will be dispelled, and chains will break" Notes Filmography Glossary Bibliography Index