Nacer Khemir: Master of fairytale-like movies
HEADING the 7th Malatya International Film Festival’s international panel, accomplished Tunisian director Nacer Khemir is a pioneer in contemporary cinema, reflecting all of the cultural richness of the North African, Arabic and Farsi cultures, specifically their traditional and mystical elements in his movies. A master at using the color palette of his own region, Khemir will also receive an honorary award from the festival on opening night, tonight, and his debut movie, the 1984 production, “Wanderers of the Desert,” will be screened at the festival.
His movies have been compared to “1001 Nights” thanks to the themes of Arabic and Farsi cultures and the Sufism philosophy in his cinematographic narration. As a result, Khemir has won many awards from prestigious festivals, including Locarno, Cinema du Reel, Valencia, Charthage, Ouagadougou and Nantes, as well as the award given in the name of Henri Langlois, the legendary manager of the Cinematheque Française. Along with his renowned movies, such as “The Dove’s Lost Necklace” and “Bab’Aziz,” he also has published 10 books in France and has created many works in theater, calligraphy, literature and sculpture.
Born in 1948 in Korba, Tunisia, Khemir studied in Paris with a UNESCO scholarship. His first international success was his book “L’Ogresses” published in 1975 in which he described his research on storytellers in Tuni- sian medinas, and the fairy-tales he compiled with calligraphy. His calligraphy was displayed in the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1980, and he read parts from “1001 Nights” to viewers at the month-long show of “Yannis Kokkos” at Chaillot National Theater in Paris in 1982 and 1988.
His first medium-length film in 1976, “L Histoire du pays du bon dieu,” focused on the philosophical journey of the director through the hero who was looking for the borders of an unknown country. Then, “Wanderers of the Desert,” the first movie in what became known as the “Desert Trilogy” in 1984, was released, and the director, who was focusing on Islamic philosophy and Sufism along with literature, won a Nantes Golden Balloon in 1984 and a Valencia Golden Palm in 1985. The second movie in his trilogy, shot in 1991, “The Dove’s Lost Necklace,” won the Namur International French Films Festival’s Golden Bayard Best Artistic Contribution Award and Jury Special Prize at the Locarno International Film Festival. After this movie, which tells the fairy-tale of Hasan, a calligrapher’s apprentice who is mesmerized by a Samarkand princess, “Bab’Aziz,” the last movie of the trilogy, won an East-West Coexistence Award at the Beirut Film Festival, a Simorgh Award at the Fajr Film Festival and the Best Golden Dagger Film Award at the Muscat Film Festival.