ARABIC GCSE Study Guide: A Thousand Months

A Thousand Months (2003) Director: Faouzi Bensaidi GCSE Study Guide written by Muntasir Al-Hamad and Mohamad AlJarrah 1 INTRODUCTION / This study guide is relevant to GCSE and equivalent level Arabic. GCSE LEVEL TOPICS include: Village life, family relationships, school life, religion; Ramadan, prayers, social issues, special occasions, isolation, poverty, authority and fear. Themes include: Respect, work, education, relationship, hope, belief and responsibility. CREDITS / Director: Faouzi Bensaidi Faouzi Bensaidi Writers: Emmanuelle Sardou Fouad Labied (Mehdi) Cast: Nezha Rahile (Amina) Mohamed Majd (Grandfather) Mohammed Afifi (Houcine) Abdelati Lambarki (Caid) Mohamed Bastaoui (Caid’s Brother) and others Cinematography: Antoine Héberlé Edited by: Sandrine Deegen Production Company: Laurant Lavolé and Isabelle Pragier Country: France, Morocco Release Date: 16 May 2003 Language: Arabic (Moroccan Dialect) Running time: 119 minutes approx 2 SYNOPSIS / Set during Ramadan in 1981, A Thousand Months tells the story of Mehdi, a seven-year-old boy (Fouad Labied) who lives in the Atlas Mountains. His job is to watch over the chair of the teacher at school – a privileged task and the chair itself is a precious currency for bartering. His mother Amina (Nezha Rahil) and grandfather make him believe that Mehdi’s father has gone to work in France, when in fact his father is in a local prison. This charming and beautifully shot film focuses on Mehdi’s relationship with the village, his friends and a world of stories that revolve about Mehdi and the inanimate, but evocative and symbolic chair. 3 BEFORE THE FILM / Pre-viewing activities 1 Look at the two film posters and try to guess what the film will be about and why? 4 2a Look at the film still and try to guess who these characters are and what their relationship is with each other? 2b What is the relationship between the child and the chair? 5 3 Why do you think the two men in this picture are looking at the crescent? What is the significance of watching the moon in Muslim countries? The name of the film might help you answer the question. 6 DURING THE FILM / While-watching activities 4 Put the following photos (A-F) in the order according to the film and why don’t you give them titles! 7 AFTER THE FILM / Post-viewing activities 5 Write down as many Arabic words that you hear from the film, along with its English meaning English Meaning / Arabic Word / 8 6 Mehdi was responsible for carrying and protecting his teacher’s chair and it was a very important and challenging mission for him. What responsibilities do you currently have or what past responsibilities have you been given and what did it involve? What it involved / Responsibility / 9 7 Write down what you liked and what you didn’t like about the film. I didn’t like... / I liked... / 10 8 Translate the film review (a) into Arabic a) Seven-year-old Mehdi (Fouad Labied) lives with his mother, Amina (Nezha Rahil), and his grandfather, Ahmed (Mohammad Majd), in a dingy apartment in a small village in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. The time is 1981 during the month of Ramadan. The area has been hit hard by a drought, and these poor people are scrambling just to make ends meet. Ahmed works as a day laborer and has been forced to sell his furniture just to afford the basic necessities. Amina has told her son that his father is away in France when he is actually serving a prison term for inciting a strike. Mehdi misses him and when given a candy wrapper that is said to be from France, he uses it as a talisman for seeing magical things when held up to the sun. The boy is a loner given the special task he’s been given by the teacher at school. He looks after his chair at night and makes sure that it is not stolen. What does that entail? Mehdi carries it on his shoulders and uses it for meditative moments of gazing off into the desolate countryside. He loves watching the lights of the city go on and off far in the distance. One of his few friends is Malika (Meryem Massaja), the mayor’s Westernized daughter who listens to popular music, smokes in secret, and attends demonstrations in the city. When she dies in a taxi cab accident, the devout Muslims in the village say God punished her for not fasting and for wearing makeup. This brings fear into the heart of Mehdi who tries his first fast but absent-mindedly bites into an apple. He is convinced that God will strike him dead for this mistake. But his grandfather assures him that nothing will happen to him for forgetting to keep the fast. (Reviewed by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, 2003) [Source: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=6628] 11 9 If you had the chance to re-write the story of the film again, how would you write it? Would you add any new characters to the film? Would it end differently? Using 100-150 words, write a new synopsis of your version of the film. 12 10 This film explores the huge issue that faces the whole world of today, poverty. Have you ever contributed or participated in trying to solve this problem? In small groups, write down five solutions that you think will help the world to improve this predicament. 1 2 3 4 5 13 Bibliography and Webliography Reviews http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=10148 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325826/ http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/mille_mois/ http://en.unifrance.org/movie/23415/mille-mois About the Director http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0072364/ http://works-and-places.appartement22.com/spip.php?article17 http://en.unifrance.org/directories/person/305623/faouzi-bensaidi http://www.trigon-film.org/en/directors/Faouzi_Bensaidi http://www.blockbuster.com/browse/catalog/personDetails/201790 About Arab and North African Cinema Dwyer, Kevin, Beyond Casablanca. M.A. Tazi and the adventure of Moroccan Cinema. (Bloomington 2004) Khatib, Lina, Filming the Modern Middle East: Politics in the Cinemas of Hollywood and the Arab World. (I. B. Tauris 2006) Landau, Jacob, Studies in the Arab Theatre and Cinema. (1958) Leaman, Oliver (editor), Companion Encyclopaedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. (Routledge 2001) Naficy, Hamid, An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Disporic Fimmaking. (Princeton University Press 2001) Sadoul, Georges, The Cinema in the Arab Countries: Anthology prepared for UNESCO. (Beirut: Interarab Centre of Cinema & Television 1966) Shafik, Viola, Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity. (American University in Cairo Press 1998) Moroccan Cinematography Center www.mincom.gov.ma/cinemaroc/ www.cinemathequedetanger.com/ Cinematheque de Tanger (CDT) www.africanfilm.com www.arabfilm.com Bibliography about the African Cinema http://www.ngsw.org/~afrmedia/bib.php About the Arab Countries http://www.arableagueonline.org/ http://www.wikipedia.org/ http://www.hejleh.com/countries/index.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm http://www.eldis.org/country/ http://www.economist.com/countries/ http://www.infoplease.com/countries.html http://www.worldbank.org/countries http://www.geographic.org/countries/countries.html http://www.un.org/ http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mi/mi.asp 14 Arabic Study Guide was produced for Cornerhouse (part of Projector: Community Languages) and written by Dr. Muntasir Al-Hamad, Lecturer of Arabic and Mohamad AlJarrah, Arabic Language Tutor from Manchester Metropolitan University. Download this study guide from: http://www.cornerhouse.org/resources/ Further study guides from our Community Languages programme include: A Thousand Months (2003) AS/A2 Arabic Study Guide Jodhaa Akbar (2008) AS/A2 Urdu Study Guide Little Red Flowers (2006) GCSE Mandarin Study Guide Pranzo Di Ferragosto / Mid-August Lunch (2008) GCSE Italian Study Guide The Road Home (2000) GCSE Mandarin Study Guide In partnership with: Supported by: st Cornerhouse funders: 15