November 2015 witnessed a horrifically violent act in the poverty-stricken region of Mghila Mountain in Tunisia, where a jihadist group targeted two young shepherds. One of the shepherds was brutally murdered, and the survivor was forced to deliver a blood-soaked message back to his family. This real-life incident served as the inspiration for Lotfi Achour’s intense drama “Red Path,” showcased in the Meet the Neighbors competition at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Initially, Achour was reluctant to make a film based on this story, as he felt the need to let some time pass and his emotions to settle. However, the murder of the second brother under similar circumstances a year and a half later, compelled him to revisit the story as it was apparent that these were not isolated crimes but intentional acts by jihadists. From then on, he was consumed with the idea of making this film.
“Red Path” narrates the grim tale through the eyes of 14-year-old Ashraf (Ali Hleli), burdened not only with the trauma of witnessing his cousin’s beheading but also the horrifying task of bringing his decapitated head back home to his family and community as a grim warning. The film melds a stark naturalistic depiction of rural Tunisia with dashes of magical realism to narrate a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story.
The director was particularly moved by the question of childhood in the face of such extreme violence. He chose to center the film around Ashraf, exploring the thoughts that might have been running through the young boy’s mind as he descended the mountain alone. Achour’s interest wasn’t in those who perpetrated the violence, but in the impact it had on a child.
Achour and his team found that focusing on the inner world of a child also clarified the style of the film. He explained that a child’s understanding of death is different from that of an adult, and the boundaries between reality and imagination are often blurred and more delicate.
The film focuses on Ashraf in the immediate aftermath of his cousin’s death, a period when the death hasn’t sunk in yet. The director added, “[His cousin’s] presence, his physical embodiment in Ashraf’s eyes, is therefore entirely plausible, like when you’ve just lost someone and you still feel their presence or smell or hear their voice.”
Achour, a renowned Tunisian author, director, and producer who has produced over 25 theatrical plays and several shorts including Cannes competition entry “La laine sur le dos,” has extensive experience working with children and young actors. The casting for “Red Path” spanned nearly a year, involving auditions of over 500 teenagers for the three main roles. The process was conducted exclusively in rural areas, primarily in secondary schools but also among children who had dropped out of school, unfortunately, a common occurrence in rural Tunisia.
Over several months, we toured the interior regions of Tunisia and held acting workshops in small groups of 20. Each workshop was followed by a selection. This long period was both a training in acting but also enabled me to grasp the theme of the film,” said Achour before adding that Hleli was one of the first boys they met and an “obvious choice for the whole team” from the get-go.
Achour emphasizes that Hleli’s performance was not a spontaneous outpouring of youth but the result of “months of preparation to build up his character.” He cited the team’s long rehearsal periods and the use of real sets for the film, which enabled them to “arrive at the shoot knowing exactly what each of us had to do.” The film was shot in the Kef region, in northwest Tunisia, near the Algerian border.
Regarding the parallel storyline involving a budding romance between Ashraf and his friend Rahma, Achour said he wanted to “add a touch of hope and love between people to the film and to add complexity, too. The complexity of feelings at the age of adolescence and the awakening of a certain sensuality.”
“We found it interesting that when they lose their best friend, Rahma and Ashraf begin to fall in love as if to ease their grief and help them live in his memory. They’re so beautiful in these love scenes, that it made me want to magnify their beauty and that of their feelings even more.”
Speaking on the current state of Tunisian cinema, including Kaouther Ben Hania landing a historic two Oscar nominations in less than five years, Achour said he thinks the country is “in the midst of a wonderful period in our cinema because we are seeing the emergence of real individuals with their style.”
There are a few real auteurs, each pursuing their own universe that stands out from the others,” added the director. “This diversity is a reason for hope for me, even if it’s still difficult to make ambitious films.”
Credit: variety.com
