Title: Fatma 75
Director: Selma Baccar
Year of Release: 1976/2006
Language: Arabic, Derja, French
Run time: 60 minutes.
“Men and women share the same destiny. The destiny of an entire people.”
The pioneering role that the women of northern Africa played in the birth of African cinema is regrettably understudied, and the feats of the likes of Fatima Rushdi (Al-Zawaj) and Amina Mohammed (Tita Wong) who managed to direct films in the 1930s remain largely forgotten. As the African film industry slowly developed, it was generally accepted that while women could play important roles in the filmmaking process such as scriptwriting and film editing, they were not equipped to be the main voice behind the filmmaking process. This attitude mirrored the general perception of women within the wider society; an attitude that could only be combatted by action. With Fatma 75, Selma Baccar aimed to do just that.
Born in Tunis in 1945, Baccar was on the cusp of her teenage years when the Tunisian Code of Personal Status was enacted in 1957. The Code was revolutionary for its time as it elevated the legal status of women in the country, but there was (and still is) a lot more to do before it could be said that the rights of women in the country were truly recognised and protected. Growing up within the context of this new law, Baccar’s experience taught her that the realities of being a woman in Tunisia were different from the situation envisioned by the law, and she became committed to the cause from a very early age. Her first short film, The Awakening (1966), focused on a young woman whose life choices are constantly questioned and challenged by the men around her, and when she was ready to make a feature film, it came as no surprise that she chose the Tunisian woman as her subject.
Fatma 75 begins with a brief historical journey chronicling the plights and achievements of Tunisian women from five different eras before we are introduced to Fatma, a 23-year-old university student who “still doesn’t know what she wants to be after her studies.” After a lecture on Tahar Haddad’s seminal essay “Our Women in the Shari’a and in Society”, a lecturer announces that Fatma would be presenting a work on the evolution of the Tunisian women’s emancipation movement. For the rest of the film, we follow Fatma as she interviews key figures in the women’s movement, re-enacts events that convey what it was like to be a woman in the evolving society, and finally questions the prevailing situation in a bid to inspire action.
The film was the first feature directed by a woman in Tunisia, meaning that making the film was a revolutionary act in itself. However, by presenting a candid depiction and challenging the notions of the woman’s inferior role in society, Baccar made sure that the film’s revolutionary quality extended to its content. She recognised the need for a blatant and radical approach to the subject, and it is clear from the first few scenes that the audience is watching a film made by someone with something to say. In its brief runtime, the film explores the role of the woman in family, economy, politics, and revolution, and Baccar paints a scathing picture of a society that has normalised the unjust treatment of individuals based on gender. The last ten minutes are particularly poignant, and they constitute an intense and passionate conclusion to the arguments and positions presented in the preceding minutes.
While the film’s message is necessarily patent, Baccar handles the technical aspects much more delicately. There is an emphasis on close-ups of the women that appear on screen, and even in scenes that include men, the camera seems to know that the woman is its main subject, and it searches eagerly for her. Although it was only her first feature film, Baccar had enough of the experience and passion needed to deliver a masterpiece. The Awakening (1966) was made when she was only 21 with the help of friends in the women-dominated Hammam-Lif amateur film club, and she had studied film in France just after college and had worked as an assistant director on Tunisian television productions for five years. Thus, she was confident enough to blend elements of fiction and documentary on her first try, and she executed her vision so seamlessly that one would think they were watching the work of a seasoned director.
Much of the film’s success is owed to Jalila Baccar who delivers a flawless performance as Fatma and plays a host of other roles on screen with a consciousness that gives each one a unique individuality. This ability to embody such diverse characters was necessary since Jalila Baccar was representing the women of an entire nation, and these talents led her to become one of the foremost performers on the Tunisian stage. Moufida Tlatli, another woman who would go on to be a prominent voice of Tunisian cinema, cut her teeth by serving as the film’s editor, and her efforts were crucial in ensuring that Baccar’s vision came out as intended.
Naturally, the Tunisian government was not enthusiastic about the final product, and the film was subject to a prolonged censorship ordeal that ironically corroborated the film’s message. Interestingly, the film had been financed by the very same government as part of its contribution to the United Nation’s Decade for Women (1976-1985), and the government had even approved the script presented by Baccar. While the official reason for the censorship was that a sexual education scene (which was in the approved script) would offend public sensibilities, the real reasons are not difficult to deduce. Baccar refused to give in to the government’s demands to alter the final cut, unwilling to release a version of the film that contradicted her vision. Thus, the film’s release was impeded for three decades.
By the end of the 1970s, women around the continent such as Safi Faye and Assia Djebar had made their own films, and while Baccar did not make another feature until 1994, her status as a pioneer has never been in doubt. Baccar took her activism beyond the screen, and she successfully ventured into active politics, serving on a national committee that drafted a new Tunisian constitution after the 2011 Tunisian Revolution. Since its official release, Baccar has attended several screenings of Fatma 75 and she continues to work in the film industry, with her latest feature being released in 2017.
Although it was shown at the 1978 Carthage Film Festival, Fatma 75 was not released officially until 2006 when the censorship measures against the film were lifted. Since then, it has featured in many festivals, film forums, and online screenings. However, the film is still fairly difficult to access, but one may find online screenings being organised, especially in March (International Women’s month). If you ever get the chance to see it, we urge you to!
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