MAUDIT SOIT LE PHOSPHATE

MAUDIT SOIT LE PHOSPHATE
85 minutes, 2012
Director : Samy TLILI (Tunisia)
Production : Nomadis Images (Tunisia)

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January 5, 2008, a sit-in organized by a group of young unemployed in front of Redeyef’s Town Hall, in south-western Tunisia, marked the beginning of a movement of civil dissent which lasted six months. 21 years after the coup d’Etat which brought him to office, General Ben Ali faced his first popular uprising. Their names are Moudhaffer, Bashir, Adnene, Leila, Adel or Haroun – teachers, unemployed, or youth in despair. Some are in the streets to express their anger, others to support these young people. They came together in a popular movement unprecedented in Tunisia at that time, “the revolt for dignity”. In this coal mining region the equation is simple, yet absurd: phosphate is produced in an area forced to suffer all the harmful consequences (environmental and other), without receiving any benefit. Four years later, what remains of this human adventure? Broken souls, wounds still raw – but also pride and dignity.

Born in 1985 in Kairouan (Tunisia), Samy TLILI is a young Tunisian director. He is also a lecturer at the University of Sousse. He has three short films to his credit. “Maudit soit le phosphate” is his first long documentary.

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