BREAD AND SALT
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BIN U BIN, ELSEWHERE THE BORDER
Director: Mohamed Lakhdar Tati
In the rocky desert Algerian border country, Fethi and his fellow villagers eke out a living smuggling goods – mostly petrol – into Tunisia, working at night and paying off the local crime lords. Saad, a film-maker trying to raise money to finish his movie, has worked for a year with Fethi. He lives in his family’s shed, included as part of a loving household as well as their risky business. At the same time he is obviously an outsider: smartly dressed and prepared to talk back to anyone, including the imam. Tough, gritty but also moodily atmospheric, its tension sustained by a tumultuous soundscape, theis remarkable film delves deeply into the complexities of family, friendship and daily survival.
BREAD AND SALT
Director: Hussein Fawzi
Bread and salt, a greeting in many languages, signifies friendliness and generosity. In this Egyptian classic, Buthaini meets young commerce graduate Saber when her father dies and she takes refuge in Cairo’s “neighbourhood of bread and salt”. Love blossoms between them but, when Buthaina finds work as a singer with the wealthy Bahjat Bey, she changes almost overnight, abandoning Saber. Hurt and shocked, he attacks her choices with such fury that she flees the neighbourhood, getting another job in a nightclub. It takes many more misunderstandings before love prevails in a satisfyingly happy ending. One of the best-known films by prolific writer and cinematographer Hussein Fawzi.
HANAMI
Director: Denise Fernandes
The remote volcanic island of Fogo, off the coast of Cape Verde, is a difficult place to make a living. Like many other young people, Nia chooses to go, leaving her new baby Nana to be raised by her grandmother. Nana is observant and sensitive; when she develops a high fever and is sent to recover with a healer under the volcano, she immediately responds to the magical atmosphere of the island’s interior. It is as if the island itself, along with the network of women who give the film a strong feminine energy, is caring for her. A moving story about longing and belonging, culminating in the older Nana’s quandary: should she stay here forever, or follow her mother into the wider world?