The Pioneer of Tunisian cinema

Albert Smama Chikly was the first to direct a Tunisian movie “Zohra”.
The Tunisian jew was born in Tunis on January 24, 1872.
The wealth of his family helped him to travel to the continents of the world, as he studied in Marseille. Albert launched the first Tunisian photography exhibition in history in 1896.
In 1922 he directed the first Tunisian film, and his daughter Haydée Tamzali, who played the role of Zohra, was the star of the film. The motion picture was shown several times in the Tunisian Film Library in commemoration of the cinematic and photographic projects presented by Albert at that time, which was considered a real revolution in this field at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century.

Perhaps one of the most difficult and dangerous techniques of photography at that time was what he did on a airship, where he directed a documentary film on Tunisia in 1900.

His daughter was the one who wrote scripts for fiction films. She wrote two films and was the star in them. Hollywood tried to propose roles for her, but it was rejected by her father.

The Tunisian director has gained a legacy as he became the first local African director. He acquired his nickname “Chikly” after the small island of Chakli located in Lake Tunis.

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