The Carthage International Festival paid tribute to the late filmmaker and theater pioneer Fadhel Jaziri with a special screening of his celebrated film Thalathoun on August 17. The evening, filled with emotion, brought together audiences and cultural figures to honor the legacy of an artist who left a profound mark on Tunisia’s cultural history.
Released in 2008 and later presented at the Carthage Film Days in 2010, Thalathoun takes its title from the 1930s, a turbulent decade in Tunisia’s modern history. Co-written with Aroussia Nalouti, the black-and-white feature combines archival footage with dramatized scenes to retrace the struggles of reformist and intellectual figures such as Mohamed Ali El Hammi, Tahar Haddad, Abou el Kacem Chebbi, and Ali Douagi. Their roles are played respectively by Rami Afana, Ali Jaziri, Maher El Hefidhi, and Walid Nahdi.
The film opens with scenes of workers’ protests led by El Hammi, whose activism led to a decade of exile. Jaziri imagines encounters—real or fictional—between these figures, weaving together their reformist spirit and avant-garde ideas in a society resistant to change. Haddad’s defense of women’s rights, Chebbi’s poetic brilliance, and Douagi’s literary defiance all faced censorship, ridicule, and repression. Yet their ideas continued to inspire the course of modern Tunisia.
Through Thalathoun, Jaziri expressed his deep faith in the power of youth and artistic creativity as drivers of change. More than a historical film, it stands as a call to reflection and social consciousness. The choice to screen it in his memory underscores the enduring impact of his artistic legacy and the ability of cinema to confront the present by drawing on collective memory.
TunisianMonitorOnline (Douha Saafi)
