“Achewiq”, the singing and courage of Kabyle women in Algeria

RFI : Invited in the Young creation section of Fipadoc, you show Achewiq – the song of courageous women. Who are these courageous women ?

Elina Kastler : Courageous women are Kabyle women. Kabylie is a region in Algeria which is inhabited by Berbers. And the women I filmed come from a village called Sahel.

You were born in 1996, in Les Lilas, France. Where does your interest in the singing of these Kabyle women come from? ?

My mother is Kabyle, but she was born in France. On the other hand, my grandparents were born in Kabylie and do not speak French. When I discovered this song, I was very moved, because it reminded me of my grandmother who is no longer there today. So I decided to do this work to represent the Kabyle woman from an angle that is very little exploited. I show a strong woman overcoming her sorrows and who – thanks to the traditional and ancestral Achewiq song – can tell her story and her stories. Singing, for me, is a way to reconnect with my grandmother and the history of Algeria which, unfortunately, was quite difficult in my family.

You dedicated your film to your mother. When did she sing or mention this ancestral Acheviq song to you for the first time? ?

It’s very funny, because I discovered this song a bit by chance, watching YouTube videos of women singing in Kabylia. This song moved me enormously and deeply touched me. So I decided to make a film about it. I said to myself: it’s great, a Kabyle song sung by women. I talked to my mother and found out that my mother didn’t know this song was called ‘Achewiq’. She just remembered that her mother sang a lot, in the kitchen, in the house… At that moment, my mother realized that she was sharing this song with Kabyle women, that it was a traditional Kabyle song, ancestral, a cappella, exclusively female. Thanks to this film project, I was able to reconnect with the story of my grandmother. And my mother was also able to tell things from Kabylie.

Through this song, have you touched a difficult point in your family ?

Rather than talking about a weak point, I would say that I touched on a moving point, through my mother’s gaze on the song and what her mother also evoked in these songs. When I left for Kabylie, I met these women… We became a bit like a family. This is where I felt that it was the land of my ancestors, by discovering for myself the daily life of these women, by living with them. Because, for this film, I lived with these women. I thus reconnected with this story, as if these women had become my grandmothers.

In the film, the women live in a very difficult situation, fires have burned the olive trees and ravaged their land. As a result, the lyrics of the songs are also very serious : “ Oh, my life, you have exhausted me with misfortunes. Suffering has destroyed me… What place does the Achewiq occupy today among these women in Kabylia? ?

Today, this song has a very important place for women. Before making the film, I interviewed many Kabyle women, in France and in Algeria. What came out of (all the testimonies of) these women who sang or who had their mother or grandmother who sang, was always the feeling of externalizing their suffering. And to sublimate them thanks to the song. For the Kabyle woman, singing allows her to expedite her suffering, to recount it, to exteriorize it, to have this land, this place of safety where she can allow herself to say whatever she wants, through song. . In Kabylie, when the woman sings, she is respected, even if she can sometimes say things that do not correspond to traditional society. Within the framework of the song, one authorizes it to say all that it wants. So it becomes really very important for women to sing.

Your film is about this Achewiq song sung by women, so only the women are visible on the screen. Even in the songs, the men appear either drunk or absent. What is the relationship of men to Achewiq chanting ?

My choice to make a film where there are only women, it comes from the song itself, since the Achewiq song is an exclusively female song, which was reserved for women. Today, some men have taken up this song. For example, Idir made Achewiq songs, but basically Achewiq is sung only by women. For me, it was important to pay homage to this song by making a film where there are only women. Although, in the village where I filmed, there are also men. But, the female community of Sahel, this village where I was to film, it is very strong and it was not difficult to be only between women. I didn’t necessarily hide the men. In everyday life, we were among women.

Is this song still practiced in everyday life or have you rather tried to do ethnomusicological research to keep traces of a heritage in danger? ?

In the beginning, in my approach, there was this desire to preserve this cultural and historical heritage that is the Achewiq song. Gradually, I realized that women were singing in their daily lives. It could get lost from time to time. It is often the older women who sing. We can sometimes have a more complex transmission relationship, but I didn’t have to look much or long before finding a lot of women singing. I realized that this song is still part of everyday life.

What were the reactions of the women of the village when you became interested in their Achewiq song ?

I was extremely well received. I think the generosity of these women comes across in the film. When they found out I was coming, they sang a lot. They were very happy to find someone was going to highlight these songs. And I decided to stay with them to live in their daily life. Not necessarily to show something exceptional, like for example the parties they organized for me, where they dressed well, sang to me and many other things. I decided to stay for a very long time and instead to film their daily lives and their lives, because that’s what interested me. I wanted to show how this everyday life can be magical and very beautiful.

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