La fille de Keltoum (2001)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Mehdi Charef

Writer:

Mehdi Charef (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 April 2002 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Cylia Malki	...	Rallia
Baya Belal	...	Nedjma
Jean-Roger Milo	...	Djibril
Fatima Ben Saïdane	...	La femme répudiée
Deborah Lamy	...	Kaltoum
Brahim Ben Salah	...	Le grand-père
Samira Draa	...	Souad
Mostefa Zerguine	...	Chauffeur car 1
Habib Zrafi	...	Routier
Lotfi Yahya Jedidi	...	Chauffeur bus 2 (as Lotfi Yahya)

Directed by
Mehdi Charef

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mehdi Charef		screenplay

Produced by
Ahmed Baha Attia	....	associate producer
Jean-Pierre Fayer	....	executive producer
Fabienne Servan-Schreiber	....	producer
Rosanne Van Haesebrouck	....	associate producer
Arlette Zylberberg	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Bernardo Sandoval

Cinematography by
Alain Levent

Film Editing by
Kenout Peltier

Casting by
Patrick Hella
Marie Legardeur

Production Design by
Taoufik Behi

Costume Design by
Maïka Guézel

Makeup Department
Françoise Duplaissy	....	key makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Véronique Labrid	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Sarah Anderson	....	dialogue editor
Ricardo Castro	....	sound
Thierry Lebon	....	sound mixer
Armelle Mahé	....	assistant sound mixer
Armelle Mahé	....	dialogue recordist
Henri Morelle	....	sound
Seppe van Groeningen	....	boom operator

Camera and Electrical Department
Frédéric Beaugendre	....	first assistant camera
Taoufik Ben Ammar	....	electrician
Sadi Boualam	....	electrician
Marc Detiffe	....	still photographer
Moez Jelassi	....	electrician
Chris Renson	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Sarah Anderson	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Masako Hirsh	....	musician: flute
Toni Marcos	....	musician: percussion
Malik Richeux	....	musician: violin

Other crew
Virginie Barbay	....	script supervisor
Jean-Marie Modet	....	assistant location manager

Production Companies

• Canal Horizons
• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Cinétéléfilms
• Cinétévé
• Eurimages
• France 2 Cinéma
• Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF)
• Studio Canal
• To Do Today Productions
• arte France Cinéma

Distributors

• Gémaci

Also Known As:

Bent Keltoum (Tunisia: Arabic title)
The Daughter of Keltoum (Canada: English title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

France | Belgium | Tunisia

Language:

French | Arabic

Color:

Color

Certification:

France:U

Filming Locations:

Tunisia

Company:

Canal Horizons

I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Riveting and moving, this is a culture clash road-movie with shades of both 'Thelma & Louise' and 'Rabbit Proof Fence'.

Rallia, a young North African brought up in Switzerland by adoptive parents, arrives in the country of her birth to find Keltoum, the woman she believes abandoned her as a baby.

In the mountainous desert where the bus driver drops her, she first encounters members of her family: a gentle old man, her grandfather, and a terrified woman who turns out to be her mother's sister. But Keltoum herself remains elusive. Working in a luxury hotel in the city, she supposedly visits every week.

Rallia begins to take part in her new-found family's life. Her initially circumspect aunt becomes a companion, and accompanying her on her water rounds is a revelation.

But Rallia waits in vain for her mother to arrive and, feeling betrayed by her family's lies, decides to leave and look for her. On impulse she encourages her aunt to join her, and the two set off on a trip full of danger, adventure and a rather steep learning curve.

Having grown up taking European wealth and freedom for granted, it comes as a shock to Rallia (and the 'Western' viewer) when she experiences life in the raw: highway robbery in aid of basic survival, childbirth on a rocky outcrop, a woman being abandoned by her husband on the roadside, male violence towards a girl wearing make-up. And when she finally confronts her mother, she is in for a deeply cathartic lesson in humility.

Yet there are also moments of great empowerment when her European self-confidence allows her to take the bull by the horns, so to say.



I found KELTOUM'S DAUGHTER full of fascinating insight into North African culture, custom and costume while being kept on the edge of my seat by a riveting adventure and moved by a tale of personal discovery. I thoroughly enjoyed it!