Gina Annunziata

Abstract

Always protagonists of a combative and civic theatre, rooted in the hic et nunc, Fadhel Jaïbi and Jalila Baccar (two leading figures of contemporary Arabic theatre), in an interview/conversation on the «Radio Tunis Chaîne Internationale», talk about the role of the artists/intellectuals and the media in the past and in future event, the process of democratisation, between optimism and fear after the Revolution in Tunisia.

Gina Annunziata, PhD in Visual Representation: History, Theory and Production of Arts and Images at University of Siena, Italy; actually she teaches History and criticism of cinema at the University of Viterbo. Her essays include: «Sui rapporti tra cinema e pittura. L’esempio “Quo Vadis?” (1913)» in Omar Calabrese ed., Fra parola e immagine. Metodologie ed esempi di analisi, Mondadori, Milan 2008.

Jalila Baccar, Tunisian playwright and actress, moves between work for the theatre and cinema always with the director Fadhel Jaïbi. She co-founded the first private theatre company, Le Nouveau Théâtre, as well as in 1994 Familia Productions. Her plays include Araberlin (2002, éd. Théâtrales, Paris) sacd French-language Playwriting Prize 2003.

Fadhel Jaïbi is a leading figure in Arab theatre. In 1976 he co-founded the first private theatre company, Le Nouveau Théâtre, as well as in 1994 Familia Productions, which revolutionized the theatrical and cinematic expression in Tunisia. His plays include La noce by Berthold Brecht, collective creation of 1976, Junun, discovery of the Avignon Festival, France, in 2002, and the recent Yahia Yaïch/Amnesia.