• Released in Spring 2023 on PAN AFRICAN MUSIC

• Released in Spring 2023 on PAN AFRICAN MUSIC

• Released in Spring 2023 on PAN AFRICAN MUSIC

STAMBELI, THE LAST DANCE OF THE SPIRITS

A documentary series by Augustin Le Gall & Théophile Pillaut. Original idea by Augustin Le Gall.

A IDOL Média & A.P.A.. Artistes Producteurs Associés Production

Duration : EP I : 11 mn • Ep II : 11 mn • Ep II : 10 mn (Total : 32 mn)

Diffusion: Pan African Music .

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In Tunisia, a mysterious cult of possession heals and delivers. It is Stambeli, a secret ritual born in the
melting pot of different cultures of sub-Saharan Africa. Incantations, curative trance and sacrificial rites… With Stambeli, the spirits’ last dance, director Augustin Le Gall and the journalist Théophile Pillault shed light on a little- known part of the social and cultural history of Tunisia.

Filmed between the sanctuary of Sidi Ali El Mekki on the Mediterranean coast, and the heart of the Medina of Tunis, the 3 part documentary film explores this ritual threatened with extinction, through the portraits of three protagonists: the young master of ceremony Lotfi Karnef, Riadh Ezzawech, one of the last Arîfas (mediums) of Tunisia, and Amine Metani, a young electronic musician who is inspired by this heritage.

Ep. I • Pilgrimage
In Tunisia, Stambeli vibrates, a ritual that heals and delivers. In the Stambeli, it is the Maâllem – or Yenna – who orchestrates the trance. The bass of the guembri guides the dance of the spirits, which will then express themselves in the body of their hosts. The medium, called the Arîfa, communicates with the spirits and transmits their wishes, thus bringing healing and blessing to the followers.

This first episode immerses us in the Stambeli culture alongside the Arîfa Riadh Ezzawesh and the young Yenna Lotfi Karnef for their annual pilgrimage to Sidi Ali Al Mekki; a tribute to the first saints of the brotherhood, inthe heart of a sanctuary overlooking the Mediterranean.

A film by : Augustin Le Gall / Duration : 11 minutes / Documentary / Production : IDOL Media & APA / 2022 / Pays : France / Tunisia

Ep. II • Heritage
Nothing is written in Stambeli. Therefore, the transmission of knowledge is fundamental to the survival of the rite. In the sanctuary of Sidi Ali Lasmar in the Medina of Tunis, the mystical cult survives. However, its future is uncertain.

Between everyday scenes, music and trance ceremonies, the second episode features Riadh Ezzawech’s fight for the survival of this heritage. How was he saved by the priestesses of Stambeli? What does it mean to be Arîfa in modern society? What place is left for the sacred and for other spiritualities in contemporary Tunisia?

A film by : Augustin Le Gall / Duration : 11 minutes / Documentary / Production : IDOL Media & APA / 2022 / Pays : France / Tunisia

Ep. III • Transmission
The rhythms of Stambeli are compatible with club
music. Episode three follows Amine Metani, musician
and founder of the Lyon-based electronic label Shouka, while he goes to Tunis in the footsteps of the guardians
of Stambeli.

A musical, spiritual and identitarian quest leads him to meet Riadh Ezzawech or Belhassen Mihoub, heirs of the tradition, as well as to the avant-garde music festival Sailing Stones, where he performs armed with his amplified guembri, summoning the ghosts of the Stambeli in an electronic haze.

A film by : Théophile Pillault / Duration : 10 minutes / Documentary / Production : IDOL Media & APA / 2022 / Pays : France / Tunisia Théophile Pillault

FESTIVALS

WOMEX 2023. Official Selection. 25-27 October 2023. A Coruña (Spain)

PRESS REVIEW

Mis en avant

TV5 MONDE. JOURNAL AFRIQUE. MAI 2023

02 MAI. 2023

Le Stambeli, mélange de transe, musique et danse sacrée est un rituel ancestral dont les racines plongent en Afrique subsaharienne. Il est toujours pratiqué en Tunisie. Le réalisateur Augustin Le Gall en a fait un documentaire : “Stambeli, dernière danse des esprits”

TV5 MONDE. MAGHREB ORIENT EXPRESS. MAI 2023.

En Tunisie, un mystérieux culte de possession soigne et délivre : c’est le stambeli, cousin des rituels gnawas au Maroc, du diwân algérien ou du lointain vaudou en Haïti. À l’heure des crispations identitaires, Augustin Le Gall et Théophile Pillault font découvrir un pan méconnu de l’histoire sociale et culturelle de Tunisie. Ils réalisent « Stambeli, dernière danse des esprits ».

RADIO NOVA. MAI 2023

Un documentaire du média Pan African Music tend le micro à ceux qui pratiquent, transmettent et modernisent le stambeli, rituel sonore qui trouve ses racines en Afrique sub-saharienne.

Des sanctuaires de Tunis aux clubs électroniques de Lyon, le sambeli a traversé la mer et les générations. Un documentaire disponible sur la chaine Youtube du média Pan African Music, retrace les origines de ce culte tunisien créé par les esclaves subsahariens déportés en Tunisie et que l’on peut entendre aujourd’hui dans les musiques actuelles

RADIO NOVA. LA POTION. MAI 2023

« Le stambeli descend du vaudou donc il rappelle au peuple tunisien son africanité » (Amine Metani).

16 MAI 2023

LES 2 RIVES – RADIO DIWAN MAI 2023

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