This year's classic - Silence of the Palace - Arabian Film Days 2013
Arabian Filmdays presents one classic from the Middle East in its program every year. This year's classic is by many considered to be the best Arab movie of all time: Silence of the Palace. The director, Moufida Tlati, is one of the big pioneers in Arab cinema.
Silence of the Palace from 1994 is about the life of a mother and her daughter inside a palace towards the end of the French protectorate in Tunisia.
The movie begins as Alia returns to the decaying palace she grew up in. The prince she and her mother served is dead. She meets Prince Sidi's widow and soon the memories of her time in the palace begin to come back to her. The movie takes us back ten years. Alia's mother works as a servant but is not payed. The work does not only include chores like cleaning and cooking but also sexual services to the prince. Outside of the palace walls the war is raging, and inside a different kind of struggle is taking place. Prince Sidi wishes, like tradition allows and dictates, to take young Alia as his new mistress. Her mother refuses him – a refusal with immense consequences fo life in the palace. Soon the palace is swept up in an intense fight for Alia's freedom.
The movie is mainly shot from the inside of the palace. One can truly feel the claustrophobia these women experience. Events keep occurring – on the man's premises. Silence of the Palace is known for being the first arab movie by a female filmmaker – Moufida Tlati. She has been a true pioneer in arab cinema. Before she started directing she was a crewmember in many prestigious film productions in the region. Silence of the Palace was received overwhelmingly well by critics and won a number a prestigious awards, including the International Critics Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Golden Camera Award at Cannes Film Festival and The Golden Tulip Award at Istanbul International Film Festival (1995).
Silence of the Palace screens on Friday at 18.15 and on Sunday at 20.45.