Algeria in the 1930s is an intersection of Jewish, Arab and French culture. A cat belonging to a widowed rabbi and his beautiful daughter, Zlabya, eats the family parrot and miraculously gains the ability to speak. Along with the power of speech comes unparalleled sardonic wit, and the cat—and filmmaker Sfar—spare no group or individual as they skewer faith, tradition and authority in a provocative exploration of (among other things) God, lust, death, phrenology, religious intolerance, interspecies love and the search for truth. 

Rich with the colors, textures, flavors and music of Mediterranean Africa, the film embarks on a cross-continental adventure from the tiled terraces, fountains, quays and cafes of colonial Algiers to Maghrebi tent camps, dusty trading outposts and deep blue Saharan nights in search of a lost Ethiopian city.

D: Joann Sfar & Antoine Delesvaux, France, subtitled, 2011, 1h29m

Discussion follows with Prof. Susannah Heschel.

Part of the Movies on the Map series, stories that will immerse you in cultures and natural wonders from every continent.