Ridha Behi
رضا الباهي
Ridha Behi in 2014
Born7 August 1947
Kairouan
NationalityTunisian
Occupations
Notable workThe Magic Box
Always Brando (2011)

Ridha Behi is a Tunisian director and producer. He is known for The Magic Box[1] and Always Brando (2011).[2][3]

Career

Ridha Behi studied sociology and obtained a master's degree in 1973 at the Paris Nanterre University and a PhD at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in 1977[4] with a thesis titled Cinema and Society in Tunisia in the 1960s under the management of Marc Ferro.[5] As a Tunisian TV assistant, he wrote the scripts for three short films between 1964 and 1967, and in 1967 made his first short film, La Femme statue,[6] as part of the Tunisian Federation of Amateur Filmmakers.[5]

His first two feature films, The Hyena's Sun (transl. fr:Soleil des hyènes) (1977) and Les Anges (1984), were featured at the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes in 1977 and 1985 respectively. He directed the film Les hirondelles ne meurent pas à Jerusalem in 1994 which received the critic's award at Carthage Film Festival.[4] His film The Magic Box was selected to be screened at Venice Film Festival, received a Special Jury Prize at Carthage Film Festival and also a special mention of the jury at the 22nd Amiens International Film Festival.[4] It was selected as the Tunisian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 75th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[7]

He announced his new feature film initially titled Brando and Brando with Marlon Brando portraying himself.[8] But the filming was interrupted by the death of Marlon Brando.[2] The film was finally released as Always Brando in the year 2011.[2] The film was selected to be screened in Toronto International Film Festival.[9]

His film The Flower of Aleppo was released in the year 2016. It was selected as the Tunisian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, but was changed to As I Open My Eyes by Leyla Bouzid.[10][11] The film had its initial release at the 27th Carthage Film Festival on 28 October 2016, then it had its regular release in Tunisia on 6 November 2016.

He also directed a dozen of documentaries in Arab states of the Persian Gulf between 1979 and 1983, and a series for the channel Al Jazeera titled Portraits of filmmakers, between 2006 and 2008.[6]

Filmography

As director, writer and producer

Year Film Credited as Notes Ref
Director Producer Writer
1970 Autumn Rain Yes
1977 The Hyena’s Sun Yes Yes
1984 Les Anges Yes
1986 Champagne amer Yes Yes
1994 Les hirondelles ne meurent pas à Jerusalem Yes Yes
2002 The Magic Box Yes Yes Yes [7]
2011 Always Brando Yes Yes Yes [2]
2016 The Flower of Aleppo Yes Yes Yes
2020 The Island of Forgiveness Yes Yes Yes Post-production

As short film director

Awards and honours

He is a regular Member or President of Juries in the Arab world:

References

  1. ^ "Hommes et migrations. documents". Hommes et Migrations. Documents. 1950. ISSN 0223-3290. OCLC 610521687.
  2. ^ a b c d "Brando's final film back on track". 25 May 2006. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Ridha Behi". IMDb. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Ridha Behi Archives". Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (in French). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  5. ^ a b Armes, Roy. (2008). Dictionnaire des cinéastes africains de long métrage. Paris: Editions ATM. ISBN 978-2-84586-958-5. OCLC 269325668.
  6. ^ a b "Personnes". Africultures (in French). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Record-Breaking 54 Countries in Competition for Oscar(R)". 19 December 2002. Archived from the original on 19 December 2002. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Brando to star as himself in film". 19 May 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  9. ^ International, Radio Canada. "Accueil | Radio Canada International". RCI | Français (in French). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Oscars: Tunisia Selects 'Flower of Aleppo' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Officiel : 'A peine j'ouvre les yeux' de Leyla Bouzid représentera la Tunisie aux Oscars 2016". tuniscope.com. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Hommage à Ridha Béhi". Turess. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Le cinéaste Ridha Behi honoré aux JCC 2017". Kapitalis (in French). 11 November 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Le cinéma tunisien triplement primé au Festival international du cinéma des pays méditerranéens d'Alexandrie". Al HuffPost Maghreb (in French). 14 October 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Fleur d'Alep primé par le festival international du film d'amour en Belgique". Al HuffPost Maghreb (in French). 20 February 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Annabamedfilms.org". www.annabamedfilms.org. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Le cinéaste Ridha Behi dans le grand jury…". www.nessma.tv (in French). 18 October 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  18. ^ "De l'aéroport au tribunal: L'incroyable mésaventure vécue par le réalisateur Ridha Behi". Al HuffPost Maghreb (in French). 8 October 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.

External links

Ridha Behi at IMDb

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