The documentary film "Black memory, testimony against oblivion," on the torturessuffered by Tunisian leftists in prisons of the State Security under Habib Bourguiba (1957-1987), received a big ovation during its screening in Algiers.
Directed by Tunisian Hichem Ben Ameur, the 52-minute documentary in official competition at the 2nd Maghreb Film Festival, offers a deep reflection on the psychological effect f torture, forgiveness and the relationship between perpetrators and their victims, based on the testimony of members of the progressive movement "Perspectives", imprisoned in the 1970s.
Despite the significant advances in socio-economic and commendable efforts to modernize the country, the long reign of former president Bourguiba, the "father of Tunisian independence," was marked by many episodes of massive repression directed against Tunisian leftist opponents, but also the Islamist, thrown in Tunisian prisons.
This "work of memory" on a reality which is "little evoked" in Tunisia is also illustrated by a "clean" writing, so described by the director himself, and which gives the documentary a "universal" vision on the moral consequences of torture, said the audience after projection.
Inaugurated Wednesday, the 2nd Maghreb Film Festival of Algiers will last until June 11 in the El Mouggar theater with 38 Maghreb works competing in three categories.