A Tunisian Filmmaker's Manifesto: On Cultural Collapse, Committed Art, and a Long-Awaited Film About Bourguiba

This publication serves as an important archive of filmmaker Mohamed Jamel Nefzi's critical reflections. Originally published on June 8, 2021, in the Tunisian newspaper Acharaa Al Magharibi, this article, titled "Crise de l'État... à la crise de l'art," provides a lucid diagnostic of Tunisia's cultural landscape. The author denounces the misuse of digital platforms to promote superficiality and calls for the resurgence of the "committed filmmaker"-in the Sartrean sense-as a necessary bulwark against the erosion of national identity and collective memory. Given the closure of Acharaa Al Magharibi, the original text has been archived via a Facebook post (linked below). Furthermore, this manifesto was translated and shared on the Medium platform to offer an international perspective on the issues raised, which have served as the intellectual foundation for the author's upcoming cinematic project on the life and legacy of the Tunisian leader Habib Bourguiba. Reference Links: Original Text (Facebook Archive): https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KV23MkGrp/ English Version (Medium): https://medium.com/@akkadprod/a-tunisian-filmmakers-manifesto-on-cultural-collapse-committed-art-and-a-long-awaited-film-about-6d91bdf81043