''Kif Tebbi'' is a 1928 Italian silent

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by

Mario Camerini Mario Camerini (6 February 1895 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Camerini began his career in the film industry in 1920, working for his cousin the director Augusto Genina. Camerini went on to direct his own fi ...

. The film portrays the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

. A young Italian-educated

Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...

nobleman is summoned to fight for the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

when war breaks out in 1911, but eventually decides to change sides and support Italy.

Production

The film promoted the Italian

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

regime's imperial policies in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and in wider

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. While privately funded (although the government supported its production) the film foreshadowed future collaborations between the film industry and the Italian state.Ben-Ghiat p.75

Cast

* Donatella Neri as Mne *

Carlo Benetti Carlo Benetti (1885–1949) was an Italian film actor of the silent era.Goble p.125 During the sound era he worked as production manager on a number of films. Selected filmography * '' Assunta Spina'' (1915) * ''The Lady of the Camellias'' (1915 ...

Piero Carnabuci Piero Carnabuci (6 September 1893 – 13 February 1958) was an Italian stage and film actor. Life and career Born in Santa Teresa di Riva, Messina, after the World War I Carnabuci decided to abandon his engineering studies at the University of ...

as Mabruk El Gadi *

Nini Dinelli Nini may refer to: Geography * Nini River, Ghana * Nini Suhien National Park, Ghana Film and television * '' Ninì Tirabusciò: la donna che inventò la mossa'', an Italian comedy film * '' Nini's Treehouse'', a children's television series * Ni ...

as Rasim Ben Abdalla *

Ugo Gracci Ugo or UGO may refer to: * Ugo (given name), including a list of people with the name * Ugo, Akita, a town in Japan * Ugo Province, an old province of Japan * Ugo (retailer), a British chain of convenience stores * UGO Networks, an American websi ...

as Taleb * Paolo Orsini *

Alberto Pasquali Alberto Pasquali (1882–1929) was an Italian Theatre, stage and film actor of the silent era.Paietta p.58 Selected filmography * ''Christus (film), Christus'' (1916) * ''Redemption (1919 film), Redemption'' (1919) * ''Pleasure Train (film), Plea ...

as Uff. Degli Zaptie * Enrico Scatizzi as Comandante Turchi * Marcello Spada as Ismail *

Raimondo Van Riel Raimondo Van Riel (22 January 1881, in Rome – 9 May 1962, in Mentana) was an Italian actor. Raimondo Van Riel was born on January 22, 1881, in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is known for his work on Quo Vadis? (1924), The Magnificent Rogue (1935) and ...

Gino Viotti Gino Viotti (1875–1951) was an Italian film actor who appeared in more than forty films, mostly in supporting roles. He played the part of Chilone Chilonides in the 1924 epic ''Quo Vadis''.Wyke p.214 Selected filmography * ''Nemesis'' (1920) * ...

as Ajad Padre Di Ismail * Renato Visca as Fratello Ismail

References

Bibliography

Ben-Ghiat, Ruth Ruth Ben-Ghiat (born April 17, 1960) is an American history professor and political commentator. She is a scholar on fascism and authoritarian leaders. Ben-Ghiat is a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University. Biography ...

. ''Fascist Modernities: Italy, 1922-1945''. University of California Press, 2004. * Del Boca, Angelo. ''Mohamed Fekini and the Fight to Free Libya''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

External links

* 1920s war drama films Italian war drama films Italian silent feature films 1920s Italian-language films Films directed by Mario Camerini Films set in the 1910s Films set in Libya Italian black-and-white films 1928 drama films 1928 films Silent war drama films 1920s Italian films {{war-drama-film-stub