The Daughter of Keltoum DVD

Foreign Language DVDs

$24.95

SKU: 720229912167 Global Lens

The Daughter of Keltoum DVD - 2001 film directed by Mehdi Charef. Rallia, a young North African brought up in Switzerland by adoptive parents, arrives in the country of her birth to find Keltoum, the woman she believes abandoned her as a baby. In the mountainous desert where the bus driver drops her, she first encounters members of her family: a gentle old man, her grandfather, and a terrified woman who turns out to be her mother's sister. But Keltoum herself remains elusive. Working in a luxury hotel in the city, she supposedly visits every week.
Rallia begins to take part in her new-found family's life. Her initially circumspect aunt becomes a companion, and accompanying her on her water rounds is a revelation. But Rallia waits in vain for her mother to arrive and, feeling betrayed by her family's lies, decides to leave and look for her. She encourages her aunt to join her, and the two set off on a trip full of danger, adventure and a rather steep learning curve. Having grown up taking European wealth and freedom for granted, it comes as a shock when she experiences life in the raw: highway robbery for basic survival, childbirth on a rocky outcrop, a woman abandoned by her husband on the roadside, male violence towards a girl wearing make-up. And when she finally confronts her mother, she is in for a deeply cathartic lesson in humility. Produced in France, Belgium and Tunisia - in French and Arabic, unrated, 106 minutes.