Tunisian filmmaker Moufida El-Talatli passed away in the early hours of Sunday, revealed the management of the Aswan International Women Film Festival.

The festival was among the many events that hosted El-Talatli throughout their editions, either by presenting her films or inviting her to be part of the jury.

El-Talatli was born on 5 August 1947 in the village of Sidi Bou Said, in the north of Tunisia.

She graduated from the Film Institute in Paris and soon became one of the most sought after film editors in Tunisia and the Arab world. 

She worked on films such as Omar Gatlato (1976), Fertile Memory (1980), Canticle of the Stones (1990), The Wanderer (1985), and Boy of the Terraces (1995).

In 1994, El-Talatli directed her first feature-length film, The Silence of the Palaces (Samt al-Qusur). The film shed light on actress Hend Sabry for the first time, becoming her major breakthrough.

Her films focus on issues of Tunisian women and society at large, El-Talatli also directed The Season of Men (2000) and Nadia et Sarra (2003).

Her works were acclaimed internationally, with the director receiving numerous awards and recognitions.

She was often invited to be on the jury panels of a variety of international festivals such as Cannes, the African Film Festival in Milan, the Chicago Film Festival, as well as those held in the Arab region, including Egypt’s Alexandria Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries, etc.

Following Tunisia’s revolution in 2011, El-Talatli was appointed as a culture minister in the country’s new cabinet.

ahramonline