This program is also a sort of a search for a lost time because it takes us back to the authors’ roots. Most contemporary filmmakers such as Rithyj Panh, Moufide Tlatli, Jie Zhang-ke and Lucrecia Martel became the ultimate author stars who simply have to appear at every important and self-respecting film festival



A picture delivered by the great Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke in the film Shijie (The World) can fit on the hero’s palm in the form of an SMS message or it can be digitally enlarged to unbelievable dimensions. In such integrated systems of communication and their “undersized visions” one Italian telephone company enabled its customers to, instead of going to a theatre, enjoy the screening of Pollack’s The Interpreter on the screens of their cell phones. In both films the protagonists have the world in their palms. Zhang-ke’s provincials work as security guards and hostesses in an entertainment park with small versions of world attractions such as Big Ben, the Twin Towers and the Taj Mahal. And Pollack’s heroine is an interpreter at the United Nations headquarters who finds herself in a microcosm surrounded by world leaders and their uniformed speeches. While Zhang-ke and Pollack shrink down and listen to the world or enlarge it through animated versions of SMS messages and the interpreter’s exit from a too-small booth, at the same time they multiply the heroes’ illusions and frustrations.


This retrospective marks the twentieth anniversary of the respectable foundation 'Fonds Sud Cinema', whose funds have helped 260 directors from 69 countries to make their films, and reminds us of a sort of a small (Third) world. Luckily, this world is not made available to us on mobile phone screens but rather on the movie screen. Instead of the representatives in United Nations we will see the representatives of Morocco, Argentina, Senegal, Tajikistan, Cambodia, Tunisia, Lebanon, China and South Africa, all of whom have a lot to say. We will see nine films from nine different countries. Most of the films come from the Magreb countries that have already fascinated many strangers such as Techine (Loin) and Gatlif (Exils). However, now we have the chance to meet the original film authors from those countries. The individual most responsible for this selection of nine films is the president of the Foundation’s selection committee, Moufida Tlatli from Tunisia. Here Magreb is not a clichéd ethnic area tailored according to world-cinema parameters. The unexplored urban landscapes now become epicenters of film narration and places that the stories stem from and always return to.


This program is also a sort of a search for a lost time because it takes us back to the authors’ roots. Most contemporary filmmakers such as Rithyj Panh, Moufide Tlatli, Jie Zhang-ke and Lucrecia Martel became the ultimate author stars who simply have to appear at every important and self-respecting film festival. The foundation had recognized them as promising authors. They proved it in their later films. Panh’s earlier Les gens de la riziére (Rice People) has the same maturity as his newest master piece Les artistes du théâtre brulé, shown last year at Cannes. Zhang-ke’s transfer to Peking (The World) is not at all inferior to his “provincial” phase (Zhantai / Platform). Neither is Lucrecia Martel’s latest lunge into somewhat warmer baths (code: La niña santa) is not any less worthy. Their worlds are simply too big to fit on a cell phone screen. (Dragan Rubeša)




About Fonds sud cinema:



In honor of the twentieth anniversary of the Fonds sud cinema foundation a representative retrospective of nine films is traveling around Europe. In February it will stop in Zagreb.


Since 1984, Fonds sud cinema has been aiding film production in many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Participating in more than 320 co-productions of feature films, the foundation has left a significant mark on international film production, enabling the production of films that, due to tough production conditions (or strict censorship), would otherwise never have reached theater screens. The annual budget of the foundation is 2,500,000 euros. During the twenty years of its existence more than 40,000,000 euros have been spent on film production. With Fonds sud cinema’s help 260 directors from 69 countries have made their films. The foundation has become a symbol of quality and it is well known among authors from neglected countries, as well as being respected by producers, distributors and festival-goers around the world.


The idea of cultural diversity, which is highly valued by France, found a realistic and tangible actualization in this foundation’s work.


In the summer of 2003, a selection committee of the foundation Fonds Sud Cinéma presided over by Moufide Tlatli selected the nine films which we will see in Tuškanac. Through these nine films, the selectors have tried to represent the different geographical areas and periods covered by Fonds sud cinéma.




Foundation’s selected filmography:

Adanggaman, Gnoan Roger M'Bala, Ivory Coast, 2000

Adjad, Abolfazi Jalili, Iran, 2003

Aldas, Choymbolyn Jumdaan, Mongolia, 1994

Ali Zaoua prince de la rue (Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets), Nabil Ayouch, Marocco, 2000

Au nom du Christ, Gnoan Roger M'Bala, Ivory Coast, 1993

Bab el shams (The gate of Sun), Aousry Nasrallah, Egypt, 2004

Bal poussiere, Henri Duparc, Ivory Coast, 1998

Beljing za zhong, (Beljing Bastards), Zhang Yuan, China, 1993

Bejrut Al Garbija, (West Beyrouth), Zijad Doueiri, Lebanon, 1998

El Bonaerense, Pablo Trapero, Argentina, 2002

Central do Brasil, Walter Sallers, Brazil, 1997

Cronicle of a Disapperance, Elia Suleiman, Palestine 1996

La Ciénaga, (The Swamp), Lucrecia Martel, Argentina, 2001

Dong gong, xi gong, Zhang Yuan, China, 1996

Famillia Rodante, Pablo Trapero, Argentina, 2004

Farishtai pasti rost, Jamshed Usmonov, Tajikistan, 2002

La Fiebre del loco, Andres Vood, Chile, 2001

Gabbeh, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran, 1995

Genesis, Mrinal Sen, India, 1985

Haitian Corner, Raoul Peck, Haiti, 1988

L'Homme sur les quais, Raoul Peck, Haiti, 1993

Hyénes, (Hyenas), Djibril Diop Mambety, Senegal, 1992

Iskanderija, kaman oue Kaman, Joussef Chahine, Egypt, 1989

Luna Papa (Moon Father), Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov, Tajikistan, 1999

Madame Brouette, Moussa Sene Absa, Senegal, 2002

Al-massir, Youssef Chahine, Egypt, 1997

Moolaadé, Sembene Ousmane, Senegal, 2004

Naukar Ki Kameez, Mani Kaul, India, 1999

Neak sre, (Rice People), Rithy Panh, Cambodia, 1994

Nizhalkkuthu, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, India, 2002

Okhotnik, Serik Aprymov, Kazakhstan, 2004

La Reina de la Noche, Arturo Ripstein, Mexico, 1994

Sabriya, Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania, 1997

Samt Elkusur, (The Silences of the Palace), Moufida Tlatli, Tunis, 1994

Shijie, (The World) Jia Zhang-ke, China, 2004

Sjaj u očima, Srđan Karanović, Serbia, 2003

Sud pralad, Apichaptpong Weerasethakul, Taiwan

Tillai, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso, 1989

Yaaba, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso, 1987

Yadon Ilaheyya, Elia Suleiman, Palestine, 2002

Yam Daabo, Idrisa Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso, 1986

Yao a yao yao dao waipo qiao, Zhang Yimou, China 1995

Yeelen, Souleymane Cissé, Mali, 1987

Zhantai (Platform), Jia Zhang-ke, China, 2001

Zulu Love Letter, Ramadan Suleman, South Africa, 2004



During the 20 years of its existence Fonds Sud Cinéma has helped the following countries (the numbers refer to the number of films made with the help of the foundation. However, the list is not complete because only the most famous countries are listed):

Tunisia: 24

Argentina: 20

India: 19

China: 15

Burkina Faso: 14

Morocco: 13

Venezuela: 13

Lebanon: 12

Algiers: 11

Chile: 11

Mexico: 11

Mali: 10

Senegal: 10