Fredj Moussa

In his humorously tragic films, Fredj Moussa combines landscape, storytelling, and absurdist props crafted from cloths and repurposed waste or fabrics to reveal socio-political realities. As a Franco-Tunisian born in France, he often draws on European literature set in Tunisia to create commentaries on alienation and belonging.

In his new work, Moussa creates a comic critique of the word “Barbarian.” Even as the Renaissance was enlightening Italy, prejudices against those enriching Europe through trade and other forms of cultural exchange persisted, as they were perceived as alien cultures of uncivilized, fearsome so-called “barbarians.” Reading Giovanni Bocaccio’s The Decameron—a fourteenth century set of short stories—provides insight into the prevailing prejudices of that time: In the chapter “Fifth Day, Novel II,” the figure Gostanza boards a boat, despairing about the loss of her lover, and is wrecked near Sousse in Tunisia. To the Romans, this North African coast was known as the “Barbary Coast.” The French word Berbère, referring to the Indigenous people living there—the Amazigh—originates from this term.

Like many other literary works, Bocaccio’s novel cycle is considered a product of European culture. Directly or indirectly, however, non-European influences via trade routes or the oral transmission of stories are integral to this work. Just as cultural exchange beyond the seas is always in motion, so too are the images in Moussa’s film. With the aid of humor, his visual poetry opens a perspective on the Eurocentrism of Western Literature. His film raises the questions of how discriminatory perceptions inform the realities of racism today and have fueled imperialistic colonial fantasies of civilizing cultures outside the realm of Europe.

Text: Sumesh Sharma