Kalthoum Bornaz (24 August 1945 – 3 September 2016) was a Tunisian screenwriter, film editor, and director who belonged to the first generation of women filmmakers in Tunisia. She was born in

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on 24 August 1945 and moved to France in order to continue her education abroad. She worked both in Tunisia and overseas on the development of many feature-length films as an editor and director.

Early life and education

Kalthoum Bornaz was introduced to and fascinated by films since a very young age. This fascination comes from the important fact that she has parents that were really passionate of

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

. She did not follow her passion right away instead, she followed a major in

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

in Tunisia. Kalthoum Bornaz then left her home country, in order to complete her university education in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. After her transition to France, Bornaz switched majors, and instead decided to follow cinema at the University of Paris III. She graduated in 1968 with a degree, and an expertise in

film editing Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

, script supervision, and

montage Montage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Filmmaking and films * Montage (filmmaking), a technique in film editing * ''Montage'' (2013 film), a South Korean film Music * Montage (music), or sound collage * ''Montage'' (Block B EP), 201 ...

from the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques situated in Paris. After the completion of her diploma, Bornaz remained in France and worked as a film technician in different programs, short films, and feature-length motion pictures.

Career

Kalthoum Bornaz worked on a various number of feature-length motion pictures as a coproducer, assistant producer, film technician, and in many other fields of her expertise. She also collaborated with various producers, and filmmakers in the production of a number of films such as

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...

, Randa Chahal-Sabbag. Bornaz not only produced films in collaboration with other directors since she also worked solo in producing documentaries, short films, and feature-length motion pictures.

Short films

Kalthoum Bornaz's first film was produced in 1986, '' Couleurs Fertiles,'' it was a short film of fifteen minutes made, and released in Tunisia. After the production of her first film, Bornaz realised a set of consecutive short films the following eight years of her career: '' Three Characters in Search of a Theatre, The Gaze of the Seagull,

Wedding Nights in Tunisia A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

.'' In 2000, she produced another short film called ''The Forest of El Medfoun,'' and it was her last short film production ''.''

Feature length films

An important year in this director's career was in 1998 when Kalthoum Bornaz directed her first feature-length film, '' Keswa. Keswa'' is a film that received a number of negative reviews because it dealt with the topic of women's right in Tunisia in a poor manner as stated by critics. '' Keswa'' was produced with the support of various production companies such as Les Films de la Mouette, which was her own production company, M.P.S. Sarim Al Fassi, and Morgane Productions. The film was not only shown in Tunisia since it was also released in various countries, and international

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s, such as in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

and

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

. Her second and last feature film was ''The Other Half of the Sky,'' and it was produced in 2008 with Les Films de la Mouette, and Mille et Une Production. ''The Other Half of the Sky'' allowed Kalthoum Bornaz the opportunity to be recognized as the only female director to compete, and present her motion picture in the official competition at

Television Festival Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

Early life and education

Career

Short films

Feature length films

Death

Filmography

References

External links

Further reading