84 min
Belgium, Morocco, Egypt, Iran, France, 2018
Original music : Simon Fransquet
Production : R&R Productions
Synopsis
Fundamentalists do not love life. For them, it means estrangement from God and from heavenly paradise with its rivers of milk (the taste of which never changes), its rivers of wine, its delights and its virgins. Life is the result of disorder and this disorder is the work of artists… Combining rare archives and artists’ accounts, and exposing fundamentalists’ hatred of artists, When Arabs Danced retraces Muslim-Arab artists’ thorny path in this century of Islamic fascism.
A word from Tënk
The love of art in all its forms — at the heart of the Arab identity — was very badly treated in the last century.
The reality examined by this film is to know what should be done with this legacy, since it’s impossible to deny its existence and sweep it under the carpet. Full of hope, these dancers, thinkers and artists challenge a subtle and multiple reality in a deftly defiant cry for freedom that’s also an act of protest against obscurantism.
Line Peyron
Head of Streaming Service at Tënk, France