“I am very honored as this is where my birth and where I spent most of my childhood,” she said, an 84-year old Italian-Tunisian actress at the beginning of a ceremony in her honour in La Goulette (a town port in the northern suburbs) of Tunisia.
Claudia Cardinale, visibly enchanted danced to traditional music and was then presented with many gifts, including portraits by local artists.
Just before the unveiling of the plaque bearing his name near the small railway station, a mural featuring his huge portrait was unveiled.
Amel Limam, La Goulette’s mayor, stated that Claudia is a dear friend and loves Tunisia. She is now returning home. We wanted to spoil Claudia with a street that will be her forever name.
The actress said that she keeps a lot of Tunisia’s landscapes, people, sense of hospitality and openness in her heart.
The descendant of Italian emigrants stated that she was very grateful to the town hall as well as the association “La Piccola Sicilia”, which co-organized the ceremony in her honor. This “Little Sicily”, was the area of La Goulette in which thousands of Italians from Tunisia, mostly Sicily, lived and where “la Cardinale” was born.
The Italian community, which included many emigrants arriving before the French protectorate (1881), was independent in 1956. It had more than 130,000 members at independence.
It’s a significant past: The Tunisia of both my parents and my grandparents was an exceptional Tunisia. She described it as a land of sharing, joy and exchange.
At 19 years old, she was elected “most beautiful Italian woman of Tunisia” in July 1957. Her reward was a trip to Venice in the same year. She was recognized by the profession. Mario Monicelli, who will play his first role in “Le Pigeon” next year.
Her family soon moved to Rome with her, where she found a new career. She was a hero in “The Cheetah”, by Luchino Visconti, and “Once Upon a Time in the West”, by Sergio Leone.
She has been living in France for many decades and has never stopped filming. She plays the role of the grandmother in Tunisian Ridha behi’s latest film “L’ile du Pardon”, which is currently in post-production.
His parents, who were exiled from Italy, never recovered from the departure they made. She says that her father was not interested in returning home because he was afraid of what would be a terrible experience for him. My mother recreated Tunisia in Italy. She planted the plants there: jasmine, bougainvillea and prickly pear, and “continued to cook Tunisian cuisine.”
Tunisia’s history is something that this Sicilian-born descendant left to find a better life in Africa. “Tunisia was a land of welcome to us. I wish all people around the world, who are looking for asylum, the same welcome.”
