Maghreb-Orient Express

Salma Kojok, Karim Serjieh, Pascal Génot, Jean Cocteau

How to remain in a Syria at war? Karim Serjieh documents his life from the beginning of the revolution in 2011 to the end of the Battle of Aleppo in 2016. Facing the imminent destruction of the eastern area of the city and the disappearance of friends and family, he recounts the complexity of choosing exile simply to remain alive. Today the film director lives in France. His film "Le Pacte d'Alep" (The Aleppo Pact), award-winner at the Jean Rouch International Festival, is being screened at the Noisy-le-Sec Franco-Arab Film Festival and the La Rochelle International Documentary Festival.

Guest at the Maghreb des Livres book fair at the Paris Hôtel de Ville, Pascal Génot is the author of "Bourdieu, une Enquête Algérienne" (Bourdieu, an Algerian Investigation), published by Steinkis, with the illustrator Olivier Thomas. Based on the story of the French sociologist's military service and first field work, the book shows how his experience in Algeria shaped his intellectual development. Until the end of his life Pierre Bourdieu retained close links with Algeria and a feeling of debt.

From her first novel "La Maison d'Afrique" (The House of Africa) onwards Salma Kojok has continued to recount an epic saga, the history of Lebanese families in Africa. Born in Côte d'Ivoire, the novelist, president of the jury for the Prix Goncourt-Choix de l'Orient prize, was awarded the 2023 French-Ivorian Éthiophile Prize for "Noir Liban" (Black Lebanon). Her principal character, Maïmouna, recounts the tragedies of Lebanon, the history of an Africa dominated but resilient, of prejudice and of building a life amidst complex multiple identities.

#As seen by Slimane: the 60th anniversary of Jean Cocteau's death. #Atmosphere with the guests' cultural favourites.

Guests: Karim Serjieh, journalist and film director; Pascal Génot, scenarist; Salma Kojok, novelist; Slimane Zeghidour, TV5MONDE editorialist.

Presented by: Mohamed Kaci.
www.tv5monde.com/MOE