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Actualités Une Place Pour Les Pieds d'Atlas
Actualités Une Place Pour Les Pieds d'Atlas | Une Place Pour Les Pieds d'Atlas |
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In the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, between 1907 and 1956, four generations of women from the same family are struggling to define their roles in a society destabilised by the threat of invasion by the “Roumis” (White Foreigners). Nanna, a woman exhausted by nine miscarriages, is annoyed by the attention her husband gives to their daughter Hanou. She takes advantage of the climate of insecurity to take her revenge. She rejects her husband publicly, and marries off her daughter who is still a child, to a much older man: Lahcen. Encouraged by her nanny who is also her husband’s mistress, Hanou goes to a wedding celebration in her husband’s absence. A young man falls in love with her. On his return, Lahcen is informed of the incident by the tribe. His reaction is very violent. He nearly kills Hanou. In a panic, the young woman runs away to her mother’s home where she gives birth to their daughter Talehcent. When Talehcent is 40, Hanou sends her to a Haydous (traditional dance) in her best clothes to choose a new husband. Tahlecent’s inconsistence is legendary. This will be her tenth husband. Mohand attracts her attention by his courage and his desire to stand up to the enemy. They get married and live happily. But Mohand has to leave the village to find work, leaving his pregnant bride behind. Ito, their daughter, is already two years old when Mohand comes back in the company of a foreigner: Paul, a roumi to whom he has given as a gift the burnous (cape) Talehcent weaved for him. Talehcent then relinquishes her wish to build a stable and happy family. She burns down her ownhouse. Ito is 16 when Hanou dies. Talehcent leaves the village. Mohand goes out to look for her and Ito remains alone. She busies herself making life-size dolls. She gets to know the villagers better and meets Zayd. She finally manages to gather the entire village on the millstone area to dance a collective Haydous that has come straight out of her imagination… |
