The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting poster

The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting

8.1(5)198357m1

“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.

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Status
Released
Budget
—
Box office
—
Language
Arabic
  • algeria
  • woman director
  • french colonialism
  • anti-colonialism
  • maghreb
  • panafricanism

Behind the camera

Director

Assia Djebar

Produced in

Algeria

Gallery

Still from The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting

Videos

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Release dates

  • GermanyDE

    • PremiereBerlin International Film Festival27 Feb 1983

Frequently asked questions

The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting was released on 27 February 1983.

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