Amateur Filmmaking in Tunisia: A Political Film Culture Eliding Contradictions in National Cinema
Résumé
Tunisian cinema has contributed to defining Maghrebi cinema as a regional category in Europe, but it has also been constructed around a range of activities and values within Tunisia. The Fédération tunisienne des cinéastes amateurs (FTCA) has been instrumental in the promotion and defense of a certain conception of Tunisian film culture, in close association with the Fédération tunisienne des ciné-clubs (FTCC). Carrying the analysis beyond audience survey methodology, this chapter builds upon interviews with different generations of FTCA members, outlining tensions in the construction of national cinema through an analysis of the mise-en-scène of national film culture as elaborated against the backdrop of an international film culture inherent in the development of the Fédération. The chapter aims to highlight the ways in which a small federation has remained a powerful vehicle of values associated with national cinema in Tunisia thanks to its institutional presence—its widely covered festival—and its institutional networks.