Selma Baccar

Selma Baccar was born on December 15, 1945 in Tunis. Her family moved to Hammam-Lif when she was seven year old.[1] Baccar was raised as a Muslim by her parents and has done the pilgrimage to Mecca with her family twice; however, Baccar identifies as agnostic.[1] She began to study psychology in 1966 to 1968 in Lausanne, Switzerland. She relocated after 2 years to study film in Paris at Institut Francais de Cinema.[3] She then became a member of the Tunisian Federation of Amateur Filmmakers, where she worked as an assistant director for a Tunisian television series.[3][1]

At the age of 21, Baccar began to create short films in 1966, along with other women at the Hammam-Lif amateur film club.[1] Her films revolve around women's issues and rights in Tunisia. Her first short film, made in 1966, was a black and white film called L'Eveil, that tackled women's liberation in Tunisia. L'Eveil later received accolades. Baccar directed her first full-length feature film in 1975 titled Fatma 75, this film is considered to be a "pioneer film" in Tunisia.[4] This was the first full-length feature film directed by a woman. Fatma 75, "a feminist essay film about women's roles in Tunisia."[5] The film uses a didactic style film that addresses feminism in Tunisia.[1] The film was banned for several years, due to censorship issues in multiple scenes, by the Tunisian Ministry of information, and was unable to be viewed in commercial movie theatres.[3] Her second full length film, Habiba M’sika (1994), was a biopic of a famous Tunisian singer and dancer, Marguerite Habiba Msika.[3] Flowers of Oblivion told the story of Zakia, an opium addict in a psychiatric hospital in Vichy-ruled Tunisia in the 1940s.[2] The director owns her own production company under Intermedia Productions alongside other notable female directors, to make films and commercials.[3] Baccar also has produced a number of short films.[6]

Baccar's activism for Tunisian women's rights lead her to an active political career; where she became a member of the Al Massar political party.[7] In October 2011, Baccar was elected as a member to the Constituent Assembly[8] In 2014, Baccar became the president of the parliamentary group of Democrats in Tunisia. Baccar was vice-president of the Democratic group, she became "the first and only woman to chair a parliamentary bloc."[7]

• In 1968, L'Eveil, received an award at the Kelibia and Sfax film festivals.[3]
• In 1979, Fatma 75, won the Gold medal at the Mannhiem Film Festival.[3]

• 2014 : Knight of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia
• 2015 : Officer of the Order of the Republic of Tunisia