Namibian premiere of the Tunisian/French film « The Wedding Song », Directed by Karin Albou, WED, 14 March 2012, 18:30h, FNCC

On Wednesday 14 March at 18:30h AfricAvenir Windhoek and the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre present Namibian Premiere of the Tunisian/French film "The Wedding Song", Directed by Karin Albou. Set during the Nazi occupation of Tunisia in 1942, this is the story of two teenage girlfriends, one Muslim, the other Jewish, who cling to the bond they’ve shared since childhood. However, the world shared by Jews and Arabs is being split by German promises of liberation and independence. César nominee Karin Albou’s bold second feature lifts the lid on a chapter of WWII history that has rarely been shown. ‘The Wedding Song’ explores both Jewish and Arab cultures and female sexuality to winning effect. 
 nDirected by Karin Albou, 2007, Tunisia/France, 100 min
Original (Arabic and French) with English subtitles
Starring Lizzie Brochere, Simon Abkarian, Karin Albou, Olympe Borval, Najib Oudghiri
 
Date: 14. March 2012, Time: 18h30
Venue: FNCC, 118 Robert Mugabe Avenue
Entrance: Free

AfricAvenir and the FNCC thank the Alliance Francaise for making this event possible. n
 
About the film
Tunis, 1942. Nour and Myriam, 16, have been friends since childhood, but their friendship gets tested by drastic circumstances. Myriam (Lizzie Brochere) is Jewish, Nour (Olympe Borval) is Muslim. They share the same house in a modest neighborhood where Jews and Muslims live in harmony. When bombs begin to descend upon on the city, leaflets dropped blaming the destruction on England’s love for Jews, and Jewish men rounded up for work camps, this childhood friendship is sorely tried. Nour and Myriam secretly desires the other girl’s life: while Nour regrets that she doesn’t go to school like her friend, Myriam dreams of love. She is envious of Nour’s engagement to her cousin Khaled, a sort of fantasy of the charming Arabian prince that they both share. nBut Nour is unaware that Khaled has found work with the Nazi party. In contrast, Myriam is forced by her mother (played by filmmaker Albou) to wed a wealthy, older doctor in order to pay the fine fines imposed on Jews by the Nazis. Nour envies the sumptuous gifts Myrium receives from her wealthy fiance; Myriam longs for the sexual attraction shared between Nour and her paramour; while Khaled insists that Nour drop her association with the Jewish girl she has loved her entire life. The fact that Myriam and Nour love each other is not enough to compete with current events. 

Awards
Director and screenwriter Karin Albou’s, well known for her film “Little Jerusalem” (2005), sophomore second feature “The Wedding Song” confirms her status as a rising star in the art-film firmament. Nominated for 6 awards the film won Best Film, Best Depiction and Best Director at the recently held 10th edition of the International Images Film Festival, Harare.