The Algerian-Canadian director Sara Nacer dedicated a documentary film to her entitled “La Rockeuse du Désert”, lasting 1 hour 15 minutes, shot and produced over almost ten (10) years, which constitutes a portrait intimate and profound by Hasna El-Bacharia.
Hasna El-Becharia, the famous interpreter of Diwane song and music who died Wednesday in Béchar at the age of 74, is considered in the artistic community and by her admirers from here and elsewhere, as an icon who will have marked, during almost half a century, this musical style of South-West Algeria.
This fame comes to her from the fact that she is the first woman in the entire history of Diwane music to play with perfection the Gumbri, this ancestral stringed musical instrument until then reserved for men, precisely called “Maâlims” (Masters). ), according to the words of Abdelmadjid Ziane, a musician with the group Diwane El-Waha.
Also mastering other musical instruments to perfection such as the guitar, the lute, the mandola, and the harmonica, the late artist left behind a rich repertoire of songs and music, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of Saoura, indicated, for his part, Noureddine Rahou, president of the Saharan Cultural and Artistic Association.
Born in Béchar in 1950, the deceased, throughout her artistic career, took a very important part in bringing Diwane music to the forefront, just as she contributed through her works to preserving a part of the cultural heritage. of the country in this case Diwane music, they underlined. Made famous locally during the 1970s, through her hosting of weddings and other family celebrations in Béchar and also across other cities in the South and North of the country, Hasna El-Becharia joined Paris (France) in the 1970s. 90, where she made herself known to the general public via her hit “Djazaïr Johara” (Algeria, the Pearl).
This album allowed her launch on the national and international scene where she will give several performances in Europe, notably in France, Italy, and Portugal, as well as in Canada and Egypt where she made Diwane music more widely known for women and the general public. The artist also contributed with the other flagship singer of Béchar Souad Asla, to the creation and national and international tours of the female group “Lemma”, of singing and music of Saoura, to highlight highlighting the female musical heritage of this region of the southwest of the country.
Thanks to her dexterity in the game of Gumbri and her long artistic career, the Algerian-Canadian director Sara Nacer dedicated a documentary film to her entitled “La Rockeuse du Désert”, lasting 1h15 min, shot and directed over almost ten (10) years, which constitutes an intimate and profound portrait of Hasna El-Bacharia.
Released in 2022, this film, which is intended as a tribute to the late artist, won several international prizes and awards, including the prize for best feature documentary in the “Regards d’ici” category at the “Vues d’Afrique” International Festival in Montreal (Canada) in 2022, award for best feature documentary at the San Francisco (USA) Arab film-festival in 2022. He also received the award for a best film directed by a woman at the Swedish International Film Festival (Sweden) in addition to the grand jury prize documentary film (Bantu Jury) at the International Festival of African and Afro-descendant Films “Bangui: Fait son Cinéma”, (Central African Republic).
