History on screen: tensions and dialogues in North African cinema - November 25 and 26, 2025
History on screen: tensions and dialogues in North African cinema
INALCO, Paris, November 25 and 26, 2025
This international conference aims to explore the relationship between cinema and the history of North African societies. Since its inception, cinema has questioned historical events and explored their transposition to the screen. As early as the 1970s, Marc Ferro (1977-1993), an eminent historian associated with the Annales school, proposed studying cinema as a form of historical archive, insofar as cinematographic works convey the underlying values, representations and societal tensions of the era to which they belong. The rapprochement between history and cinema also calls into question the relationship between the written word and the image, between scriptural text and filmic monstration, between the imaginary and reality - or the true/veridical - and between iconic and semiotic language and verbal language. The aim of this symposium is to explore these relationships and tensions through an examination of Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian and Libyan films, as well as other cinemas from the region. Today, these cinemas are returning to the "colonial history of the Maghreb", particularly French colonization. There is also a renewed interest in the history of immigration to the other side of the Mediterranean, in political history (particularly that of the leaden years), in the history of communities, ideas and mentalities, in the history of social and cultural practices, and in the anthropological structures of the imaginary - not forgetting the profound changes that have taken place in these countries since 2011. This symposium, entitled History on screen: tensions and dialogues in North African cinemas, is devoted to the multifaceted history told by North African cinemas, and will address a number of questions: - Can we speak, in North Africa, of a cinema-documentary or a filmic writing of history? - Can we speak of a structured historical discourse conveyed by cinema? - How do films reveal the silences and gaps in the history of North African societies? - Do these filmic narratives reveal cultural plurality and complexity, despite the construction of national novels? - What role does cinema play in building up historical knowledge about North Africa? - Can cinema be a relevant tool for questioning the relationship between the imaginary and the "real"? - How can historical research on these societies enrich our understanding of cinematographic works? - Do North African historians and filmmakers collaborate in the scripting and filming of historical events? - Are old films being archived and safeguarded, including those in danger of disappearing? - Do the creators or witnesses of amateur images today occupy the place of historians?
Proposals should be sent to Brahim Hasnaouy (IRCAM, Rabat) Click here to show mail address and Menel Zeggar (LACNAD, INALCO, Paris) Click here to show mail address no later than July 15, 2025. -
Paper proposals should include a title, authors' names, affiliations, an abstract (300 words) and a short bibliography. Papers will be invited to become articles for a thematic dossier. - The symposium organization will not be able to cover travel and accommodation expenses for participants.
Scientific committee Brahim Hasnaouy (IRCAM, Rabat) ; Menel Zeggar (INALCO, Paris) ; Daniela Merolla (INALCO, Paris)
History on screen: tensions and dialogues in North African cinema
This international conference aims to explore the relationship between cinema and the history of North African societies. Since its inception, cinema has interrogated historical events and explored their transposition to the screen.
Proposals should be sent to Brahim Hasnaouy (IRCAM, Rabat) Click here to show mail address and Menel Zeggar (LACNAD, INALCO, Paris) Click here to show mail address by July 15, 2025. -