Hot Docs 2019 – A Haunted Past
A personal portrait of a broken Tunisian Bosnian family. Ex-prisoner and ex-jihadist Tawfik has been left alone to take care of his three teenage daughters.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Fatma Riahi
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
This film is likely to cast some light on the motivations behind the political and personal choices made by parents and whose shortcomings do not affect them alone, but also affect their children. The film criticizes the power holders who punish parents by aborting their dreams and their children's and juggle with their fates. The film takes the lid off the injustice and frustration inherited by generations. This is an attempt to understand when and how Tawfik and Marcida's dream was born and how it turned into bitter distress undergone by three little girls who
Until now are unable to enjoy the warmth of a family or define the frontiers of a homeland. Is their homeland Bosnia that rejected them, Luxembourg that gave them up or Tunisia that imprisoned them?
This is the story of tens of Arab Bosnian families torn apart amidst political conflicts. Their stories deserve to be told and their past merits to be investigated through the experience of Tawfik where the humanistic overlaps with the religious and the political.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Recently, there have been many films dealing with stories about people who fled to Europe seeking refuge there. The films usually raise questions about the future of those in Europe and the future of Europe with them. Very few films talk about those who have been kicked out of Europe to their home countries. What kind of future is waiting for them? This film offers one of those untold stories.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I think that lacking the feeling of safety and belonging to a family is an issue that would be difficult for anybody in the world. The absence of Tawfik in his daughters' life and the mysterious absence of the mother later have always put this family in an unsafe and unhappy area, and led the girls, and Tawfik, to lose the real meaning of "family". The story of the film is a human story that goes beyond geographical borders.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
When I first met Marcida in 2005, I found myself in front of a story that needed to be filmed. I didn't plan for anything back then, I just took my camera and started taking shots for her and her daughters in their everyday life. At that time Taoufik was in prison.
In 2013, I went back to continue shooting with Marcida and her daughters to find out that she had abandoned her daughters, leaving them with their father after his release from prison. I found myself in front of a heartbroken father, Taoufik, who was trying desperately to raise his daughters and to overcome the bitterness of the past. Taoufik is a moody person, a very complicated character who has an everyday inner struggle between his roles as a father and as a mother after the mysterious disappearance of Marcida.
Since I had already begun shooting from the moment of Taoufiks's absence and Marcida's taking over the custody of their daughters, I decided to continue shooting the story of Taoufik taking over the custody of the kids in the absence of their mother Marcida. That's why the first title that came to my mind for the film was "Absence"; absence of the father in his daughter's life at the beginning and absence of the mother shortly after his return. This is how the story evolved with me.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The film was very touching for all those who watched it. Everybody felt a kind of sympathy with Taoufik's daughters, to the degree that one family from the Netherlands went to visit Tawfik's family and offered support for him and his family after watching the film at IDFA film festival in Amsterdam. Others were curious about the reasons behind Marcida's absence in the film and whether it was intended or not. Some asked about the current conditions of the family and Taoufik's relationship with the Tunisian authorities now. I can say that the main interest and comments of the audience were related to human rights area in general.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I can't say that I was surprised but I was so happy to see the interest and the positive response of the audience towards the film.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I expect that "wearemovingstories.com" will help to bring a new audience to the film, which is a great opportunity for me as a director.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I am very interested in the presence of film festival directors and the press, especially the human rights press. I want the film story to reach all human rights and children rights organizations and individuals in the West, hoping to help to change the life of the girls in a positive way.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope that this story will get the attention of those who are interested in human rights. I wish that this story could move people to help with anything that can improve the life of Taoufik's daughters.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How did you convince Taoufik to shoot despite his very conservative and fanatic character?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I am in the very early development stage of my second long documentary.
Interview: April 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
A Haunted Past
A personal portrait of a broken Tunisian Bosnian family. Ex-prisoner and ex-jihadist Tawfik has been left alone to take care of his three teenage daughters.
Length: 1:30:30
Director: Fatma Riahi
Producer: producer : fatma riahi / production company : Al jazeera Documentary Channel
Writer: Fatma Riahi
About the writer, director and producer:
FATMA RIAHI studied cinema and television technologies at Manouba University in Tunisia. Her first short film, Mashghoul [Busy], was her graduation project in 2008. She worked as a producer/director on short documentaries in Tunisia. In 2011, Fatma made a midlength TV documentary, Tunisia ... The Revolution continues, about the Tunisian revolution. In the same year, she joined Al-Jazeera Network as a producer in the production department. In 2015, she started working in her first feature film, A Haunted Past. The project was selected for a number of workshops and labs around the world. In addition, He has been selected eventually in IDFA 2018 in the first appearance competition, Hot Docs 2019, VERA film festival in the main competition 2019, COSTARICA Festival Internacional de Cine 2019 and the International TRT Documentary Days in the Special selection.
Al Jazeera Documentary Channel is a cultural channel specializing in documentaries. Is the first of its kind in the Arabic-speaking world and stems from a fundamental interest The human nature and the living environment and interaction between them. AJD aims to promote documentary culture in the Arabic language, to nurture its creators, to create a documentary industry, and to seek real partnership with Film Makers and Broadcaster.
Key cast: Director/ Writer Fatma Riahi - Production Al Jazeera Documentary Channel - Executive producer Fatma Riahi - Associate Producer Muhammed Refaat - Cinematography Hatem Nachi - Script advisor Nizar Hassan - Editing Najwa Khechemi - Sound Production Mixer Ahmed Maalaoui - Sound design/re-recording mixer Sami Gharbi
Facebook: Fatma Mabrouk Riahi, A Haunted Past
Other: IMDb
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Hot Docs 2019 Wed, May 1 6:00 PM SCOTIA 8 & Fri, May 3 6:15 PM Scotiabank Theatre, Cinema 13