Tribute to Claudia Cardinale: Screening of "The Island of Forgiveness" at the French Institute of Tunisia
In a posthumous tribute to international star Claudia Cardinale, the film "The Island of Forgiveness" by Ridha Béhi will be screened on Monday, October 13th at 6:00 PM at the French Institute of Tunisia (IFT). Released in 2022, this last film of the "most beautiful Italian woman of Tunis" of the 50s will be screened in the presence of the director and close friend of Claudia Cardinale.
This event will be an opportunity for the director to share with the audience memories of the actress and to look back on her "exceptional career that has deeply marked the history of Tunisian, Mediterranean, and international cinema," according to the IFT. "The Island of Forgiveness" is a 1 hour 30 minute fiction film written, directed, and produced by Ridha Béhi. It sheds light on the issue of cohabitation between different communities in 1950s Tunisia. The director explores a new approach to "living together" and tolerance in our time.
About Claudia Cardinale
The famous Italian-Tunisian actress, naturalized French, passed away on the evening of Tuesday, September 23rd, at the age of 87, in Paris, after a distinguished international artistic career that began in Tunis. Claudia Cardinale (April 15, 1938 - September 23, 2025) is one of the world's celebrities born in Tunis, with an artistic career spanning over seven decades. At the age of 17, Claudia was elected "the most beautiful Italian woman of Tunis," a title that allowed her to take her first steps in cinema in 1956 with a leading role in "Chaines d'or" by René Vautier, and then in the feature film "Goha" by Jean Baratier, the first Franco-Tunisian co-production, in color.
Film Synopsis
"The Island of Forgiveness" tells the story of an Italian Christian family and their relationship with other communities on the island. The filming took place between April 21, 2019, and May 25, 2019, on the island of Djerba, chosen for its symbolic significance as a place of peaceful cohabitation between different communities. The film made its world premiere at the 44th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) in Egypt, where it was selected for the international competition.
Cast and Crew
Claudia Cardinale (Agostina) is among a plethora of Tunisian and Italian actors in the film, including the late Hichem Rostom, Mohamed Ali Ben Jemaa, Badis Behi, Chedly Arfaoui, Mohamed Sayari, Kamil Cagniard, Jean Jacques Ciscardi, Sylvain Picard, Francesca, and Alessandro Schiavo, among others.
The title "The Island of Forgiveness" (Arabic title: Jazirat al-Ghufran) refers to the philosophical work "The Epistle of Forgiveness" (Resalat Al-Ghufran) by Abou Ala al-Maari. This fiction film addresses the issue of religion by adopting al-Maari's approach and the contradiction between the essence of religion and the practice of the religious.
