2023-06-19 08:45:21
Tunis, September 2019. On the eve of the first round of the presidential election, the second since the fall of Ben Ali’s dictatorial regime in February 2011, Saïda’s hairdressing salon is transformed into a political arena. Reflecting the turmoil gripping the country, the women’s camera filmed by Sarra El Abed accurately and gently testifies to a generational confrontation that brings together several conceptions of feminism.
No voiceover, only boxes, at the beginning and at the end of this nineteen-minute film, to indicate the political context. The progress made in 1956, the presidential elections, the rise of religious conservatism motivated by the arrival of the Islamist party Ennahda which revived the combativeness of Tunisian women… inflamed, reproachful too. Between a generation of women who fought in the 1950s and who faces, crestfallen, the one who no longer fears seeing the rights acquired in hard struggle challenged.
Love and political sincerity
The exchanges in Arabic and French are punctuated by silences which carry no less weight than the cries of joy. They subtly convey the tension as the vote draws near, the disappointment at seeing the low turnout at its outcome. In the meantime, youyous resound when the first voters arrive in the living room, proudly showing off their finger stained with blue ink. Hand-held camera, the director anchors the exception of the democratic moment that takes place outside in the banality of a day at the hairdressing salon.
Thought by Sarra El Abed as a “love letter to Tunisian women and women who (l’) have raised”, this short documentary offers a singular look at these brilliant citizens, with a keen political sense. Overflowing with the love that Sarra El Abed has for them, disarming with sincerity and beauty.
#privacy #Saïda #hairdressing #salon