“La Zerda and the songs of oblivion” (1982) is one of only two films made by the Algerian novelist Assia Djebar, with “La Nouba des femmes du mont Chenoua” (1977). Powerful poetic essay based on archives, in which Assia Djebar – in collaboration with the poet Malek Alloula and the composer Ahmed Essyad – deconstructs the French colonial propaganda of the Pathé-Gaumont newsreels from 1912 to 1942, to reveal the signs of revolt among the subjugated North African population. Through the reassembly of these propaganda images, Djebar recovers the history of the Zerda ceremonies, suggesting that the power and mysticism of this tradition were obliterated and erased by the predatory voyeurism of the colonial gaze. This very gaze is thus subverted and a hidden tradition of resistance and struggle is revealed, against any exoticizing and orientalist temptation.
The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting explores themes of algeria, woman director, french colonialism. A blend of Drama and Documentary, it is available to stream for free in HD on Ernax — no account required.
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Runtime: 57 min
Director: Assia Djebar
Writers: Assia Djebar, Malek Alloula
Country: Algeria
Language: Arabic, French
Themes: algeria, woman director, french colonialism, anti-colonialism, maghreb, panafricanism
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