| Bastardo | |
| Director: | Nejib Belkadhi |
| Producer: | Imed Marzouk |
| Starring: | Abdel Moneem Chouayat |
| Music: | Lone Wolf (Paul Marshall)[1] |
| Cinematography: | Gergely Pohárnok |
| Editing: | Pascale Chavance, Badi Chouka |
| Distributor: | Propaganda Production |
| Runtime: | 106 minutes |
| Country: | Tunisia |
| Language: | Arabic |
Bastardo is a 2013 Tunisian drama film written and directed by Nejib Belkadhi. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[2] [3]
Mohsen, "the bastard", was found in a dustbin 30 years ago by his adoptive father, and has always been rejected by the residents of the rundown district where he lives. When he is fired from his job, a mobile phone company comes to install a relay tower on the roof of his modest house in exchange for a monthly stipend, Bastardo has a reversal of fortune. The aerial makes Mohsen a wealthy and respected man, to the disgruntlement of the village mobster Larnouba.
Director Belkadhi says:
"Power and corruption have been part of our lives for decades, and less than three years after the revolution, I am still wondering if we made it. Back in 2007, when I began writing the script, I had one thought in mind: my main character Bastardo shouldn’t choose power. It’s rather power that chooses him and radically changes him."[4]
Bastardo received a grant from the Doha Film Institute in 2011.[5] The original, uncut version of the movie was 3 hours and 20 minutes' long.[6]