Ridha Behi is a

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n director and producer. He is known for

The Magic Box ''The Magic Box'' is a 1951 British Technicolor biographical drama film directed by John Boulting. The film stars Robert Donat as William Friese-Greene, with numerous cameo appearances by performers such as Peter Ustinov and Laurence Ol ...

and Always Brando (2011).

Career

Ridha Behi studied

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

and obtained a master's degree in 1973 at the

Paris Nanterre University Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, ma ...

and a PhD at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in 1977 with a thesis titled ''Cinema and Society in Tunisia in the 1960s'' under the management of

Marc Ferro Marc Ferro (24 December 1924 – 21 April 2021) was a French historian. Life and career Ferro worked on early twentieth-century European history, specialising in the history of Russia and the USSR, as well as the history of cinema. His Ukrai ...

. As a Tunisian TV assistant, he wrote the scripts for three short films between 1964 and 1967, and in 1967 made his first short film, ''La Femme statue'', as part of the Tunisian Federation of Amateur Filmmakers. His first two feature films, ''The Hyena's Sun'' () (1977) and ''Les Anges'' (1984), were featured at the Directors' Fortnight at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

respectively. He directed the film ''Les hirondelles ne meurent pas à Jerusalem'' in 1994 which received the critic's award at

Carthage Film Festival The Carthage Film Festival (CFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Tunis and founded in 1966. It is also called by its abbreviation JCC, from its French name, , or by its Arabic title, (''Cinema Days of Carthage''). Initially bi ...

. His film

was selected to be screened at

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

, received a Special Jury Prize at Carthage Film Festival and also a special mention of the jury at the 22nd

Amiens International Film Festival Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. It was selected as the Tunisian entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...

at the

75th Academy Awards The 75th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 23, 2003, at the Dolby Theatre, Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AM ...

, but it was not nominated. He announced his new feature film initially titled Brando and Brando with Marlon Brando portraying himself. But the filming was interrupted by the death of Marlon Brando. The film was finally released as

Always Brando ''Always Brando'' is a 2011 film directed by Tunisian director Ridha Behi. Originally titled ''Brando and Brando'', it was set to star Marlon Brando and Christian Erickson until Brando's death. The film premiered at 2011 Toronto International Fil ...

in the year 2011. The film was selected to be screened in

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

. His film

The Flower of Aleppo ''The Flower of Aleppo'' ( ar, زهرة حلب; french: La Fleur d'Alep) is a 2016 Tunisian drama film directed by Ridha Behi. It was originally selected as the Tunisian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, but ...

was released in the year 2016. It was selected as the Tunisian entry for the

at the 89th Academy Awards, but was changed to '' As I Open My Eyes'' by Leyla Bouzid. The film had its initial release at the 27th

on 28 October 2016, then it had its regular release in Tunisia on 6 November 2016. He also directed a dozen of documentaries in Arab states of the Persian Gulf between 1979 and 1983, and a series for the channel

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...

titled ''Portraits of filmmakers'', between 2006 and 2008.

Filmography

As director, writer and producer

As short film director

* 1967 – La femme statue * 1972 – The Forbidden Thresholds

Awards and honours

* Officer of Tunisian

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

– (2004) * Tribute to the Tetouan Mediterranean Film Festival – (2013) * Grand Officer of the Tunisian

– (2016) * "Grand Prix Tribute" of

– (2017) * Award for Best Director at the International Film Festival of the Mediterranean Countries of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

– (2017) * Winner of the Public prize at the Mons International Film Festival – (2017) He is a regular Member or President of Juries in the Arab world: * 2008 – Jury member (video) of the

* 2014 – Jury member (feature films) of the

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-ai ...

African Film Festival * 2018 – Member of the Grand jury of Carthage Film Festival * 2019 – Jury member of the

Malmö Arab Film Festival Malmö Arab Film Festival (MAFF) is an Arab film festival based in Malmö, Sweden. MAFF is widely regarded as the most influential and largest Arabic film festival in Europe, and is the only one in Scandinavia. The first edition was held in 2011 ...

(Sweden)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behi, Ridha Living people 1947 births Tunisian film directors Tunisian film producers People from Kairouan