Golden Horseshoes

Director, screenwriter, actor and poet, Nouri Bouzid was born in Sfax, Tunisia in 1945. He began filmmaking studies in 1968 at Institut National des Arts du Spectacle et Techniques de Diffusion (INSAS) in Brussels. He graduated in 1972 with a short film, Duel (1972). Returning to Tunisia he worked, from 1972 to 1973 in Tunisian television but was then arrested and jailed for over five years (1973-79) for his involvement with the radical Groupe d’Etude et d’Action Socialiste Tunisian (GEAST). After his release he worked as an assistant director on several foreign films shooting in Tunisia, including Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and The Key to Rebecca (1985) (TV). He also assisted on many Tunisian features as well as working on screenplay adaptations and dialogue for several important Tunisian films in the 90s such as Halfawin ’Usfur Stah (1990) by ‘Ferid Boughedir’.

He made his directorial debut in 1986 with Rih essed (Man of Ashes) which won the top prize at the Carthage Film Festival. Three years later, his film Golden Horseshoes was screened at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. His 2006 film, Making Of, was awarded best screenplay at Tribeca Film Festival and best film at Carthage Film Festival. These films tackle sensitive issues usually absent from Arab films and established Bouzid as a significant figure in Maghreb cinema. In 1994 he participated in founding a film school, EDAC, where he has been teaching since. —IMDb