A visual poem of incomparable beauty, this masterpiece from director Nacer Khemir (Wanderers of the Desert) begins with the story of a blind dervish named Bab’Aziz and his spirited granddaughter, Ishtar. Together they wander the desert in search of a great reunion of dervishes that takes place just once every thirty years. With faith as their only guide, the two journey for days through the expansive, barren landscape. To keep Ishtar entertained, Bab’Aziz relays the ancient tale of a prince who relinquished his realm in order to remain next to a small pool in the desert, staring into its depths while contemplating his soul. As the tale of the prince unfolds, the two encounter other travelers with stories of their own–including Osman, who longs for the beautiful woman he met at the bottom of a well, and Zaid, who searches for the ravishing young woman who fled from him after being seduced by his songs. Filled with breathtaking images and wonderful music, Nacir Khemir has created a fairytale-like story of longing and belonging, filmed in the enchanting and ever-shifting sandscapes of Tunisia and Iran.

Director Nacer Khemir’s past cinematic achievements include his award-winning features “Les Baliseurs du Désert” (Wanderers of the Desert), awarded Grand Prix of the Festival des Trois Continents in 1984, and “Le Collier Perdu de la Colombe” (The Dove’s Lost Necklace), which won the Special Jury Prize at Locarno in 1991. The script was written by Nacer Khemir with the participation of screenwriter Tonino Guerra (Amarcord, Night of the Shooting Stars, Blowup and L’Avventura).

2006 | 96 minutes | 35 mm | 1:1.85 | Dolby SR | DTS

Theatrical Dates:

* New York, NY . Cinema Village . Feb. 8, 2008
* Atlanta, GA . High Museum of Art . Feb. 16, 2008
* Los Angeles, CA . Landmark’s Nuart Theatre . Feb. 22, 2008
* Seattle, WA . Landmark’s Varsity Theatre . March 14, 2008
* New Orleans, LA . Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center . March 21, 2008
* San Francisco, CA . Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre . April 4, 2008
* Berkeley, CA . Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas . April 4, 2008
* San Rafael, CA . Smith Rafael Film Center . April 11, 2008
* Boston, MA . Landmark’s Kendall Square Cinema . April 25, 2008
* Denver, CO . Starz FilmCenter . May 2, 2008
* Cleveland, OH . Cleveland Museum of Art . May 10, 2008
* Fort Worth, TX . Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth . May 16, 2008
* Santa Fe, NM . Center For Contemporary Arts . May 16, 2008
* Chicago, IL . Gene Siskel Film Center . May 30, 2008
* St. Louis, MO . Webster University Film Series . June 13, 2008
* Washington, DC . Landmark’s E Street Cinema . June 20, 2008
* Detroit, MI . Landmark’s Main Art Theatre . June 27, 2008
* Austin, TX . Landmark’s Dobie Theatre . July 11, 2008
* Hartford, CT . Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art . July 17, 2008
* Madison, WI . Sundance Cinemas . August 1, 2008
* Hanover, NH . Hopkins Center Film . August 10, 2008
* Ann Arbor, MI . Michigan Theater . August 15, 2008
* Portland, OR . Regal Fox Tower Stadium 10 . September 5, 2008
* Minneapolis, MN . Landmark’s Lagoon Cinema . September 5, 2008
* Ithaca, NY . Cornell Cinema . October 16, 2008

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Reviews:

“A structurally audacious fairy tale that imparts moral lessons and shows how narratives reflect and shape life… cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari frames the dunes, rock formations and sandblasted village and cities with a poet’s eye, turning real spaces into dreamscapes.”
–Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times

“The breathtaking desert landscapes that dominate Nacer Khemir’s beautiful, elliptical Middle East drama deserve the big screen… you’ll remember the dreamlike state the film induces long after the credits roll.”
–New York Magazine

“cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari infuses the screen with sumptuous yet unemphatic colors, filtered through sun and wind and sand. There’s nothing forced about Bab’Aziz; its ideas resonate quietly, building to a breathtaking climax.”
–Sheri Linden, LA Times

“Tunisian filmmaker Nacer Khemir spins an exquisite, mystical tone poem of a film… the arrival of Bab’Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul is, to misuse a dervish cliché, something worth singing and dancing about.”
–Phil Hall, Film Threat

“An Arabian dream that weaves timeless story threads with mystical and Sufi elements into a beautiful film object…..as fascinating as reading a new chapter of 1,001 Nights.”
–Deborah Young, Variety

“Watching it is like entering another realm in both form and content, which is what makes the film so intriguing, especially in this day and age of the so-called “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West.”
–Ed Rampell, Los Angeles Journal

Cast:

Parviz Shahinkhou - Bab’Aziz
Maryam Hamid - Ishtar
Nessim Kahloul - Zaid
Mohamed Grayaa - Osman
Golshifteh Farahani - Nour

Nacer Khemir (Director)

Filmography as Director

2005 . Bab‘Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul
1991 . In Search Of The Arabian Night (A la Recherche des Mille et une Nuits)
1990 . The Dove’s Lost Necklace (Le Collier Perdu de la Colombe)
1984 . Wanderers of the Desert (Les Baliseurs du Désert)
1978 . Somaa
1977 . L‘Ogresse
1975 . Le Mulet (Short Animated Feature)
1975 . The Story of the Land of God (L’Histoire du Pays du Bon Dieu)

Mahmoud Kalari (Director of Photography)

Selected Filmography

2005 . Bab‘Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul – (dir. Nacer Khemir)
2000 . Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmin – (dir. Bahman Farmanara)
1999 . The Wind Will Carry Us (Bâd Mara Khâhad Bord) – (dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
1999 . The Cloud and the Rising Sun – (dir. Mahmoud Kalari)
1996 . Gabbeh – (dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
1993 . Sara – (dir. Dariush Mehrjui)
1993 . De Karkeh au Rhin (Az Karkeh ta Rhein) – (dir. Ebrahim Hatamikia)
1992 . L‘amoureux (Delshodegan) – (dir. Ali Hatami)
1991 . Le Sergent (Goruhban) – (dir. Masud Kimia‘ie)
1990 . Reyhaneh – (dir. Ali Reza Raissian)
1990 . O Iran – (dir. Nasser Taqvai)

Tonino Guerra (Participation in screenplay)

Selected Filmography

2005 . Bab‘Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul – (dir. Nacer Khemir)
2002 . Maimal (The Chimp) – (dir. Aktan Abdykalyleov)
2000 . Bibo per Sempre – (dir. Enrico Coletti)
1998 . Eternity and a Day – (dir. Theo Angelopolous)
1996 . The Truce (La Tregua) – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1995 . The Gaze of Odysseus – (dir. Theo Angelopolous)
1995 . Beyond the Clouds – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
1993 . Golem, the Petrified Garden – (dir. Amos Gitaï)
1991 . The Suspended Step of the Stork – (dir. Theo Angelopolous)
1990 . Everybody‘s Fine – (dir. Giuseppe Tornatore)
1990 . Sunshine Even By Night – (dir. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani)
1988 . Landscape in the Mist – (dir. Theo Angelopolous)
1987 . Good Morning, Babylon – (dir. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani)
1987 . Chronicle of a Death Foretold – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1986 . The Beekeeper – (dir. Theo Angelopolous)
1986 . Ginger and Fred – (dir. Federico Fellini)
1984 . Henry IV – (dir. Marco Bellochio)
1984 . Kaos (dir. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani)
1984 . Voyage to Cythera – (dir. Theo Angelopolous)
1984 . Bizet’s Carmen – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1983 . Nostalghia – (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
1983 . And the Ship Sails On – (dir. Federico Fellini)
1982 . The Night of San Lorenzo – (dir. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani)
1982 . Identification of a Woman – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
1981 . Three Brothers – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1980 . The Oberwald Mystery – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
1979 . Christ Stopped at Eboli – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1976 . Dear Michael – (dir. Mario Monicelli)
1976 . The Context – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1974 . Lucky Luciano – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1974 . Amarcord – (dir. Federico Fellini)
1972 . The Mattei Affair – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1970 . Many Wars Ago – (dir. Francesco Rosi)
1970 . Sunflower – (dir. Vittorio de Sica)
1970 . Zabriskie Point – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
1969 . Dismissed on His Wedding Night – (dir. Ugo Tognazzi)
1966 . Blowup – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
1965 . The 10th Victim – (dir. Elio Pietri)
1964 . A Woman is a Wonderful Thing – (dir. Mauro Bolignini)
1964 . The Red Desert – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
1962 . The Eclipse (L’Eclisse) – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
1960 . The Night (La Notte) – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
1960 . The Adventure (L‘Avventura) – (dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)