By Iman Zayat

-Tunis-

Views of America, or the 2nd edition of "American Independent Cinema Meetings", an event organized by the American Embassy, together with Tunisiana, the American Film Institute (AFI), and the French Cooperation Institute, was held in Tunisia from the 19th of November to the 21st.

On the opening of Views of America, a large public, consisting mainly in youth and students, headed off to the movie theatre "AfricArt" in Tunis to attend. Cinema professionals, notably Tunisian director, Farid Boughdir, producers, notably Tunisian producer, Nejib Ayad, journalists, and film enthusiasts were there to discover the last work of French director, Bertrand Tavernier, entitled "In the Electric Mist".

Before the screening of the movie, Hichem Ben Khamsa, the initiator of the event, gave a short presentation of 'Views of America', recalled the beginnings, and thanked the event's sponsors and partners.

Later, his Excellency, the US Ambassador to Tunisia, Mr. Gordon Gray, gave a short speech in which he underlined the significant role cinema plays in supporting mutual knowledge and bringing together peoples.

Mr. Gray added: "The American Embassy is proud of supporting this event… Since the making of the first full-length movie in 1903, "The Great Train Robbery", Americans have always been fascinated by cinema… America cannot be perceived from one single angle and this festival brings into the light the notion of plurality… The American people are pleased with the excellent ties between the US and Tunisia as they are hoping for better cooperation…"

The main events of the movie, "In the Electric Mist", are set in the marshy and misty forests of New Iberia, Louisiana. A detective movie sticking to the "American" style, "In the Electric Mist", is an adaptation of the detective novel of James Lee Burke. The story revolves around an inspector, Dave Robicheaux (Tommy Lee Jones), who wants to discover the identity of a serial killer.

Faithful to his creed and his position against war, injustice, and colonialism, Bertrand Tavernier evokes the state of the world by linking the American Civil War, which led to the abolition of slavery (setting: Louisiana, the murder of a young Black) and the crimes perpetrated today by the holders of capital and economic power. Tavernier attempts to show the viewer that it is necessary to go back to the past, and revisit memory in order to better apprehend the present and the future.

"Views of America" aims at presenting the general public, professionals and film enthusiasts with “different views from the American independent cinema” through the screening of various films, whether recent or classical.

The event bestows, also, a good opportunity upon young cineastes to develop their experience through participating into a competition, which consists in presenting a 3 to 6 minutes films on a preset topic.

10 films are, then, selected. The first three candidates secure an invitation to New York as a prize. The remaining candidates collect a digital camera. The 2nd edition's topic for the competition was " 20-29: How do you perceive Tunisia in 20 years (in 2029)?"

As for films, they were seven, screened in two movie theatres: AfricArt (Tunis), Al Hambra (La Marsa), on different schedules. Among the most appealing movies were: “Sita Sings the blues”, a cartoon film directed by Nina Paley, the one-woman Pixar and “Taxi driver”, a classic of Martin Scorcese with Robert De Niro.

-Alarabonline-

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