A public writer for the illiterate holds everyone's secrets—and none of their loyalty.
In the 70s, in the Goutte d'or district, three friends of Algerian origin: Poulou, a failed boxer, Amar, the clumsiest of thieves, and Jibé, a public writer for illiterate compatriots whose lives he knows in detail. As he betrays none of their secrets, he enjoys great prestige in the bistros where he works. The three of them lead a casual life, raising money by illicit means. It's only when Poulou and Amar leave that Jibé understands his isolation and marginalization. The images as well as the sounds help to reinforce the feeling that Paris is a city where he is both at home and a terrible stranger.
Acting
Malek Kateb's wounded pride as a boxer who never was.
Cinematography
Goutte d'or streets that feel lived-in, not picturesque.
Writing
Jibé's unwritten stories—everyone's confessor, no one's friend.
Director
Derri Berkani
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in Paris's Goutte d'Or, one of France's oldest North African neighborhoods—rarely depicted on screen with this documentary intimacy in 1971.
The 'public writer' profession—literally writing letters for the illiterate—was already vanishing; Berkani captures its last breath as metaphor for immigrant invisibility.
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