La Zerda ou Les Chants de L’Oubli

Assia Djebar´s film brings together a set of archival photographs and film footage shot in the Maghreb region from 1912 to 1942, and pairs it with poetic spoken words that give voice to what the images cannot utter alone. Laying eyes on past images and reflective sounds, the film becomes a historical account that gives life to the forgotten ceremonies and lifestyles of indigenous Algerians, while simultaneously questioning the influence of their colonial context on the representations they portray. La Zerda ou Les Chants de L’Oubli is the second and last feature film of distinguished Algerian novelist Assia Djebar.