Zohra (film) explained

Zohra
Director:	Albert Samama Chikly
Producer:	Albert Samama Chikly
Starring:	Haydée Chikly
Runtime:	35 minutes
Country:	Tunisia
Language:	French intertitles

Zohra is a 1922 silent 35 mm short film from Tunisia by Albert Samama ('Chikly').^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} It was the first indigenous North African film production.^[5] The movie script was written by Chikly's daughter, Haydée Chikly, who also edited and starred as the key female protagonist in the film.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Plot

The plot of the movie evolves around a shipwrecked young French woman, who is rescued by Beduins. She lives with the Beduin tribe for a time. She is later abducted by bandits, but is rescued by a French aviator and reunites with her family.^[10] Tribal customs are displayed in detail in the film.^{[1] [11]} The movie is seen as an example of the 'mysterious Orient' genre.^[3]

Reception

The film was screened at the Omnia Pathé cinema in Tunis, and enjoyed a degree of success.^[12]

Notes and References

1. Book: Les cinémas d'Afrique: dictionnaire. 2000. KARTHALA Editions. 978-2-84586-060-5. 409.
2. Book: Lizbeth Malkmus. Roy Armes. Arab and African film making. 1991. Zed Books. 978-0-86232-916-7. 28.
3. Book: Kenneth Perkins. A History of Modern Tunisia. 20 January 2014. Cambridge University Press. 978-1-107-02407-6. 181.
4. Book: Annette Kuhn. Annette Kuhn. Guy Westwell. A Dictionary of Film Studies. 21 June 2012. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-958726-1. 494.
5. Book: Terri Ginsberg. Chris Lippard. Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema. 11 March 2010. Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-7364-3. 22.
6. Book: Roy Armes. Dictionary of African Filmmakers. 2008. Indiana University Press. 978-0-253-35116-6. 3.
7. Book: Roy Armes. African Filmmaking: North and South of the Sahara. registration. 2006. Indiana University Press. 0-253-21898-5. 25.
8. Book: Roy Armes. Third World Film Making and the West. 29 June 1987. University of California Press. 978-0-520-90801-7. 197.
9. Book: Roy Armes. Postcolonial Images: Studies in North African Film. 2005. Indiana University Press. 0-253-21744-X. 6.
10. Web site: A cinema history. 14 June 2015.
11. The Jewish Quarterly . 197–204 . The Jewish Quarterly . 2005 . Jewish Literary Trust . 58.
12. Book: POUILLON François. Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française. 1 November 2008. KARTHALA Editions. 978-2-8111-4099-1. 863.