COLLECTION · Movie · 1991

Isabelle Eberhardt

Isabelle Eberhardt: A Swiss explorer, journalist, and writer, she moves to Annaba, Algeria in 1897 with her mother, who prefers to live in Algerian neighborhoods rather than European ones. She converts to Islam and shocks French colonialists with her lifestyle: she dresses as a man, frequents cafés and opium dens. Fascinated by the desert, she travels the Sahara as Si Mahmoud, publishing articles and books about the world she discovers in southern Algeria, strongly criticizing colonial authorities. Arriving in El Oued, military officers prevent her from continuing her journey. She disobeys, witnesses them shooting Arab prisoners, and is arrested for espionage. Expelled from Algeria, she marries Slimane, a Muslim NCO, in 1901. Becoming French through marriage, she is now allowed to reside in Algeria.