Margaret Garner

 

2006 | Mustapha Hasnaoui | documentary | 52'

France - Germany

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Synopsis

Through the creation of a modern, popular opera with a libretto by Toni Morrison, this documentary film explores current attitudes towards race relations in America and shows how vital it is to reconcile past and present in order to create a harmonious future.
In 1988, Toni Morrison's Beloved was the publishing sensation of the year. The novel is based on the true story of Margaret Garner, a slave who in 1856 killed two of her children to prevent them from being taken into slavery.
The case became the subject of a heated national debate: Should Margaret be tried for murder - a tacit admission that slaves were human beings - or should she be tried for destruction of property since her children belonged to her master?
In 1993, Morrison became the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Includes interviews with Toni Morrison.
 

Director: Mustapha Hasnaoui

Composer of the opera: Richard Danielpour
Producer: Laurence Uebersfeld

 

Co-production: LuFilms / La Huit / Cityzen télévision / Copap

With the participation of:

Centre National de la Cinématographie
RFO
Michigan Opera Theatre
Procirep-Angoa
SACEM

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Festivals:

- Ismailia International Film Festival, Egypte (Jury Award)
- FIFA - Festival International du Film d'Art, Montréal (Special Mention)
- Journée Cinématographique de Carthage, Tunisie (Special Mention)
- FIPA - Festival International des programmes audiovisuels, Biarritz
- Pan african Film Festival, Los Angeles
- La Rose d'Or, Switzerland
- African Diaspora Film Festival, New York
- 17th African Asian and Latinamericain Film festival
- Africa in the picture, Amsterdam