06/09/2023 - VENICE 2023: The feature debut by directorial duo Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane recreates the vibrant and chaotic universe of what goes on behind the scenes of a touring dance troupe

Afef Ben Mahmoud, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Sofiane Ouissi in Backstage

During their lengthy tours, dance troupes leap from one stage to the next, and those who are part of them travel, eat and sleep together; they laugh, cry, squabble, fall in love. In short, they become something akin to a family. In her feature debut, which she co-directed with her husband Khalil Benkirane, Afef Ben Mahmoud knows what she’s talking about, as she spent many years working as a professional dancer herself. And Backstage [+see also:
trailer
interview: Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil Be…
film profile], presented in competition in the 20th Giornate degli Autori at the 80th Venice Film Festival, recreates that very vibrant and chaotic behind-the-scenes universe involving a group of dancers, with their underlying dynamics and tensions that the audience never gets to see, but which are very much present and have the power to condition everybody’s work.

This is precisely what happens when, during one performance, Aida (played by the director herself) provokes Hedi (Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui), her life and stage partner, who in turn, out of spite, makes her fall clumsily to the ground, before the incredulous eyes of the other dancers. “The show must go on,” obviously, but when the curtain falls, Aida is in pain and might not be able to dance the following evening in Marrakesh, for the very important final date of their successful tour. Cancelling the show is out of the question, and so the troupe decides to head off in search of a doctor. During the journey, however, disaster strikes again: in order to avoid a monkey crossing the road, the coach they are travelling in swerves and gets two flat tyres (and there’s only one spare wheel). The group then decides to set off towards the nearest village, tramping through the forest in the moonlight.

Thus begins a bizarre road movie through the woods of the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, amidst trees, wild animals and a flurry of dance steps, during which the members of this ensemble begin to get to know each other better and the connections between them come to light, as romances, betrayals, homesickness, grave losses and unspeakable passions bubble up to the surface. The camera moves from one character to another, capturing their conversations and literally dancing along with them, against the constant backdrop of the sounds of nature (the crunching of leaves underfoot, animal calls, birdsong), all framed by the lights and shadows of a forest that may seem like something out of a fairy tale, but which also conceals many hidden dangers.

At sunrise, after a night of revelations, the dynamic between the characters will never be the same again. Although we won’t have had time to really dig into the stories of each of them (the cast includes choreographers Sondos Belhassen and Hajiba Fahmy, performer Ali Thabet, dancers Sofiane Ouissi and Nassim Baddag, actors Abdallah Badis and Saleh Bakri, and designer Salima Abdel Wahab, making for a melting pot of nationalities ranging from Palestinian to Algerian, and from French to Tunisian and Moroccan), which are barely touched upon, our eyes will have enjoyed a feast of wonderful dance sequences, which are captivating and very competently filmed. Backstage is a highly physical ensemble film, which swings between the bright lights of the stage and the darkness of their inner worlds, and in which even the most painful conflicts are resolved with humanity and with a warm embrace.

Backstage is a Moroccan-Tunisian production by Lycia Productions and Mesanges Films, in co-production with Iota Production (Belgium), Les Films de l'Altaï (France), DUOfilm (Norway), Metafora Production (Qatar) and Film Clinic (Saudi Arabia).

(Translated from Italian)