Nacer Khemir
Nacer Khemir est né le 1er avril 1948 à Korba (Tunisie). A la fois conteur, écrivain et réalisateur, il est aussi l’auteur et illustrateur de plusieurs publications littéraires. Très tôt bercé par l’univers du conte, il obtient une bourse de l’UNESCO pour étudier le cinéma à Paris. En 1972, il part à la recherche des conteurs dans la médina de Tunis, et ce travail de collectage de contes inspirera quatre films autour du conte et des conteurs. C’est en 1975 avec la publication du livre «L’Ogresse», un conte calligraphique, qu’il participe en France au renouveau du conte, notamment en initiant des ateliers de formation de conteurs. Dessinateur, sculpteur, il est aussi calligraphe et expose ses travaux en particulier au centre Georges Pompidou en 1980 et au Salon du Livre de jeunesse de Montreuil. En 1982 et 1988, il raconte durant un mois Les Mille et Une nuits au Théâtre National de Chaillot à Paris, chaque soir une nouvelle histoire, 25 heures de récit dans une scénographie de Yannis Kokkos.
Filmography
1975 Le Mulet, Animationsfilm
1976 L'Histoire du pays bon Dieu, short
1977 L'ogresse, short
1978 Somaa, short
1984 Les baliseurs du désert
1991 Tawk al hamama al mafkoud
2005 Le prince qui contemplait son âme
2007 Die Tunisreise (Regie: Bruno Moll)
2008 L'Alphabet de Ma Mère, short
2012 Sheherazade
2014 Looking for Muhyiddin
2014 Min Ayna Nabda? (Doc)
2018 Whispering Sands
Sheherazade (2011)
The collected work known as "One Thousand and One Nights" survived for centuries through generations of Arab storytellers, and is now recognized as an integral part of world literature. In this filmed performance, storyteller/filmmaker Nacer Khemir sits on chair in the middle of a dimly lit stage and deploys the magic of words to take us on a journey of the imagination. This simple set-up may not seem like much, but it offers the listener an extraordinarily colorful experience and brilliantly emphasizes the oral nature of the work. More
Bab'Aziz - Le prince qui contemplait son âme (2005)
A visual poem of incomparable beauty, this masterpiece from director Nacer Khemir (Wanderers of the Desert) begins with the story of a blind dervish named Bab’Aziz and his spirited granddaughter, Ishtar. Together they wander the desert in search of a great reunion of dervishes that takes place just once every thirty years. With faith as their only guide, the two journey for days through the expansive, barren landscape. More
Le collier perdu de la colombe - Tawk al hamama al mafkoud (1991)
The fairy tale "the dove's lost necklace" by Nacer Khemir tells the story of Hassan, a young man who is taught calligraphy by his master. One day he runs across a portion of an old text which convinces him that it holds the secrets to love. With the help of an impudent young boy and the boy's monkey (whom the boy thinks is an enchanted prince), Hassan sets out to find the rest of the manuscript. What he finds instead is the beauteous Aziz. Despite their being separated by war, they are soon reunited. This film takes us in the midst of a time when djinns and visions were still, real. More
Les baliseurs du désert (1984)
It is in a village lost at the bottom of the desert, a young teacher was named, to teach, but there is no school. Through the yant glance foudro of a girl, our teacher is aspired by another world to the suspended time where côtoient Thousand and One Nights. Coordinate all the hidden force of an underground memory. One of the most beautiful desert movies, in which storyteller and painter Nacer Khemir tells us the journey of a young teacher that arrives in a desert village. More
