Moufida Tlatli

Moufida Tlatli
مفيدة التلاتلي
Born(1947-08-04)4 August 1947
Sidi Bou Saïd, French Tunisia
Died7 February 2021(2021-02-07) (aged 73)
Tunis, Tunisia
NationalityTunisian
Alma materInstitut des hautes études cinématographiques
Occupations
  • Film director
  • film editor
  • politician
Years active1970–2021
Notable workThe Silences of the Palace

Moufida Tlatli (Tunisian Arabic: مفيدة التلاتلي; 4 August 1947 – 7 February 2021) was a Tunisian film director, screenwriter, and editor.[1][2][3][4] She is best known for her breakthrough film The Silences of the Palace,[5][6][7][8] which won several international awards and was praised by critics. She made two more well received movies,The Season of Men [9][10] and Nadia and Sarra.

Early life

[edit]

Moufida Tlatli was born in Sidi Bou Said, a suburb of the capital Tunis, on 4 August 1947. Her interest in cinema was piqued by her philosophy teacher.[11] She moved to Paris in 1965, where she studied film editing and screenplay at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques.[12] She subsequently went back to Tunisia in 1972 and started off as a film editor.[12][13] One of the notable films she edited was Halfaouine Child of the Terraces (1990) by Férid Boughedir.[12]

Career

[edit]

Moufida Tlatli made her directorial debut with The Silences of the Palace (1994). She drew inspiration for the film from the challenging experiences her mother endured as an Arab woman.[13] The film was acclaimed critically and won several awards: Cannes Film Festival's Golden Camera, the Carthage Film Festival's Golden Tanit, British Film Institute's Sutherland Trophy, Toronto Film Festival's International Critics' Award, and Istanbul International Film Festival's Golden Tulip.[12] It was later categorized as one of the ten best films from Africa by film director and critic Mark Cousins in September 2012.[14]

The second film Moufida Tlatli directed, The Season of Men (2000), was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival that year.[15] It was awarded the Grand Prix by the Arab World Institute, as well as awards at film festivals held in Namur, Valencia, Torino, and Stuttgart.[12] She subsequently sat as a juror of the Cannes Film Festival. She became only the second director from the Maghreb to do so, after Boughedir one decade before.[16] Her third and final film, Nadia and Sarra (2004), featured Palestinian actor–director Hiam Abbass in the title role.[13]

Later life

[edit]

Tlatli was appointed as Minister of Culture by Tunisia's provisional government in 2011, following the Tunisian Revolution and the ousting of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.[13][17]

Tlatli died of COVID-19 on 7 February 2021, at age 73.[13] She was survived by her husband, Mohamed Tlatli, her daughter Selima Chaffai and son, Walid, and five grandchildren.[18]

Filmography

[edit]

Editor

[edit]
Year Title Reference
2004 Nadia and Sarra [19]
2000 The Season of Men [19]
1994 The Silences of the Palace [19]
1994 The Fire Dance [20]
1990 Halfaouine Child of the Terraces [19]
1990 The Song of The Rock [21][19]
1989 Leila's My Reason [19]
1988 The Trace [19]
1987 Arab Camera [19]
1986 Arab [22]
1984 Wanderers of The Desert [19]
1983 Crossings [23]
1982 Shadows of The Earth [22][23]
1980 Aziza [22][23]
1979 Nahla [19]
1978 A Ball and Dreams [22]
1977 Omar Katlato [22]
1975 Fatma 75 [22][23]
1974 A People's Victory [24]
1974 Sajnène [23]
1972 In The Land of Trannani [22]

Director

[edit]
Year Title Notes
2004 Nadia and Sarra [19]
2000 The Season of Men [19][25][26][27]
1994 The Silences of the Palace [19][28][29]

Writer

[edit]
Year Title Notes
2004 Nadia and Sarra [19]
2000 The Season of Men [21][19]
1994 The Silences of the Palace [19]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Traub, Alex (4 March 2021). "Moufida Tlatli, Groundbreaker in Arab Film, Dies at 78 (Published 2021)". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  2. ^ Pulver, Andrew (9 February 2021). "Moufida Tlatli, Silences of the Palace director, dies aged 73". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Moufida Tlatli ist tot: Arabische Kino-Pionierin". Der Spiegel (in German). 9 February 2021. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  4. ^ "CINEMA Rencontre avec Moufida Tlatli, réalisatrice de "les Silences du palais" Un premier film en forme d'exorcisme". Le Monde.fr (in French). 8 September 1994. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  5. ^ "The 100 greatest foreign-language films: who voted?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  6. ^ "The 100 greatest films directed by women: Who voted? L-Z". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  7. ^ Silverstein, Melissa; Asante, Amma; Potter, Sally; Latif, Nadia; Hutchinson, Pamela; Young, Jingan; Solemani, Sarah; Gordon, Introduction by Melissa Silverstein With nominations by Amma Asante Emily V.; Ramsay, Lynne (3 November 2017). "Other stories: why now is the time for a new movie canon – chosen by women". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Las 100 mejores películas dirigidas por mujeres, según la BBC". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  9. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (1 October 2020). "20 best African films – ranked!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Le Grand Prix de la Biennale des cinémas arabes a été attribué à Moufida Tlatli cinéaste tunisien pour La Saison des hommes". Le Monde.fr (in French). 12 July 2000. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Décès de la réalisatrice tunisienne Moufida Tlatli". Kapitalis. El Ghazala, Tunisia. 7 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021. (in French)
  12. ^ a b c d e "Moufida Tlatli". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  13. ^ a b c d e Pulver, Andrew (9 February 2021). "Moufida Tlatli, Silences of the Palace director, dies aged 73". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  14. ^ Cousins, Mark (3 September 2012). "African cinema: ten of the best". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  15. ^ "La Saison des Hommes" [The Season of Men]. Festival de Cannes (in French). Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  16. ^ Hillauer, Rebecca (2005). Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers. American University in Cairo Press. p. 453. ISBN 9789774249433.
  17. ^ Ayad, Christophe (18 January 2011). "Tunisie, une transition à hauts risques" [Tunisia, a high-risk transition]. www.liberation.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 8 July 2013.
  18. ^ Traub, Alex (4 March 2021). "Moufida Tlatli, Groundbreaker in Arab Film, Dies at 78". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Moufida Tlatli". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Moufida Tlatli". Mubi. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Moufida Tlatli". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g "Moufida Tlatli". elCinema. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  23. ^ a b c d e Armes, Roy (2008). Dictionary of African Filmmakers. Indiana University Press. p. 125. ISBN 9780253351166.
  24. ^ Touti Moumen présente films tunisiens longs métrages, 1967–1998. M. Touti. 1998. p. 62. ISBN 9789973310439.
  25. ^ Lennon, Peter (22 June 2001). "Sins of the mothers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  26. ^ "BBC - Films - Writer - Moufida Tlatli latest". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  27. ^ Holden, Stephen (28 September 2001). "FILM REVIEW; Married but Seldom With a Husband (Published 2001)". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  28. ^ "The Silences Of The Palace (Le Silence du Palais) | Film | The Guardian". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  29. ^ James, Caryn (30 September 1994). "FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW; A Daughter Revisits Her Mother's Oppression (Published 1994)". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
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