À mes parents
Nasser Amri
2000 - 34 min - Couleur - France

Every year, on the tenth day of the last month of the Hegira, Muslims all over the world celebrate Aid Al Kabir (the Great Feast). On that day, they sacrifice a ram in commemoration of Abraham’s sacrifice. God asked Abraham to prove his faith by sacrificing his son. Obeying God, he was getting ready to do this when the archangel Gabriel stopped him and said, "Now, you have proved your faith in God, sacrifice this ram instead of your son". For the three monotheistic religions, this gesture of Abraham’s seals the covenant between God and men.
My father, a first generation Algerian immigrant, like all Muslim believers living in France, perpetuates Abraham’s sacrifice. The film shows the preparations and the events of the day of the sacrifice in my family in a small town in Bouches-du-Rhône : buying the sheep, prayer, sacrifice, visiting the dead. So we see how my parents, through these simple ritual gestures, have conveyed to us the values contained in this founding act : the acceptance of the father, the unity of the family, solidarity with the most impoverished, reconciliation.
In France, this sacrifice is often perceived as a barbarous, meaningless act. By allowing someone else’s eyes to see into the privacy of a Muslim family, I hope to dispel any illusions in the perception of the sacrifice by bringing it back to its right place at the heart of Muslim culture.