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The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting

Name: The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting
Director: Assia Djebar
Released: 1983
Duration: 57 min

Representation Score

7.2/10

Good

1983

Director

Assia Djebar

Runtime

57 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Assia Djebar’s poetic essay is a masterclass in narrative reclamation. By repurposing colonial propaganda, the film dismantles oppressive power dynamics. It replaces an exoticized, Orientalist view with a sophisticated study of indigenous resistance. While the film lacks specific focus on queer intimacy or disability, its multi-layered approach to gender and racial identity provides a powerful critique of Western hegemony.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film challenges the colonial gaze by reclaiming the sanctity of Zerda ceremonies. However, depictions of queer intimacy are not the main focus.

How does The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting portray gender?

Excellent

Djebar centers women as active participants in resistance by deconstructing newsreels. The film shifts the perspective from a male-dominated colonial lens to a reclaimed feminine memory.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting?

Excellent

This work critiques Western hegemony and systemic erasure by replacing white-centric records with a narrative of indigenous struggle and North African ability to act.

How does The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The film emphasizes the mysticism and power of local traditions over reductive colonial interpretations. It frames the colonial gaze as predatory voyeurism, critiquing the corruption of Western imperialist structures.

Does The Zerda or the Songs of Forgetting include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no significant evidence regarding the portrayal of physical or neurodivergent disabilities within the film.

Present on Screen

Exceptional deconstruction of colonial propaganda to reveal indigenous ability to act.
Strong reclamation of female historical memory and active participation.
Profound critique of Western hegemony and Orientalist frameworks.

Limited or Absent

Lack of specific depictions regarding queer intimacy or identity.
No visible representation of physical or neurodivergent disabilities.

Official Synopsis

“La Zerda and the songs of oblivion” (1982) is one of only two films made by the Algerian novelist Assia Djebar, with “La Nouba des femmes du mont Chenoua” (1977). Powerful poetic essay based on archives, in which Assia Djebar – in collaboration with the poet Malek Alloula and the composer Ahmed Essyad – deconstructs the French colonial propaganda of the Pathé-Gaumont newsreels from 1912 to 1942, to reveal the signs of revolt among the subjugated North African population. Through the reassembly of these propaganda images, Djebar recovers the history of the Zerda ceremonies, suggesting that the power and mysticism of this tradition were obliterated and erased by the predatory voyeurism of the colonial gaze. This very gaze is thus subverted and a hidden tradition of resistance and struggle is revealed, against any exoticizing and orientalist temptation.

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