"The Speakers of Truth" "Terrorists creep into a house to cut the throats of a couple." "The terrorist leader asks the woman:" ""What is your name?"" "The woman answers:" ""I am Fatima, my son."" "The leader says:" ""I can't kill you!"" ""Why not, my son?"" ""Because my mother's name is Fatima too." "That's why."" "There he asks the man:" ""What is your name?"" "The man says: "My name's Achmed but everyone calls me Fatima."" "This is the story of a desperate man." "He lives with his wife and seven children in one small room." "He can't receive visitors, make love to his wife or rest." "He decides to end it all." "He goes to the sea wanting to drown." "As he walks into the water, he sees a bottle light up." "He opens the bottle and a genie comes out and says:" ""Make a wish!"" "The man says: "All I want is a house with more rooms."" "Do you know what the genie said?" ""If I could give you a house, d'you think I'd live in a bottle?"" "This is the story of a very drunk man." "He didn't even know where he lived." "The man went home, but got lost." "It was 11 o'clock at night." "He walked along the street and saw two men coming." "Determined." "Moustaches." "Ties." "A glazed look..." "The man was sure." "Military security." "He thought: - "God forgives, but the State doesn't."" "Madjid, telephone!" " For me?" "No, for your brother." " Madjid, telephone." "Sorry guys, I'm back in a minute." "Hello, Madjid speaking." "Hello darling..." "In our country, speakers of truth are an endangered species who will die out if you do nothing." "We are prey that is hunted both by the enemies of truth and the enemies of freedom." "It's not just about us or what is happening in my country it is mainly about the profession of Speaking The Truth." "I may die because I wrote the truth but the Speaker of Truth may never disappear!" "Thank you for listening." "You must not just be willing to die for your country." "You also must be willing to live for you country." "Don't go back home." "Stay with us and ask for political asylum." "Excuse me." "Excuse me a second." "What?" "You want me to ask for asylum." "You think that is the answer." "Who for?" "For how long?" "One thing you must understand." "It's not about me." "I am not the problem." "One day you'll understand..." "One day you'll understand..." "Good morning, I'll put you through." "He's busy." "One moment." "Let's not waste time with platitudes." "I don't like you and I hate your paper." "You will not publish that article." "You blame me for doing my job?" "Do I not write the truth?" "Sit down." "Listen, Mr Sahafi." "You are an intelligent man." "You know that Speakers of Truth are not loved in our country." "Especially not by the Others." "At least you can talk to us." "I'm asking you to be a little milder." " What exactly do you mean by that?" "Tone down the truth and we'll leave you alone." "And if I refuse?" "Your newspaper employs 19 people." "Most are married with children." "If the newspaper is banned..." "You're also a target for terrorists, as you know." "We can protect you if you ask." "Your enemy is our enemy." "Listen, Mr Sahafi..." "We gave you the freedom to have an independent press." "We made the State printers available to you." "We even set up the State agency for advertising for you to get you ads and money." "We provide you with paper that only the State can buy abroad." "You see, without us you could never make your newspaper." "What more do you want?" "Get rid of all these State monopolies." "May I ask you something?" "May I be honest with you?" "If you take responsibility for you own honesty." "I have looked around me..." "I haven't seen an ashtray." "Is that a reproach?" "I don't see the problem." "I'm smoking." "I still don't see the problem." "Where do I leave my ash without an ashtray?" "You shouldn't be smoking." "But I am smoking now." "Put it in here." "Mr Sahafi?" "That's me." " Good day." "Please follow us." "I am Alice Dierna and this is Mr Breeveld, from the Ministry of Justice." "We are dealing with your case." "Pleased to meet you, sir." "Will you have the gentleman check his personal details." "Will you check that everything is correct?" "Sahafi." "There should be an H between the two As." "His name is not written right." "It needs an H. Sahafi." "Is he sure about it?" "Are you sure?" "What about?" "Your name." "Is it written with an H?" "I believe it is..." "May I have my passport?" "Yes, with an H. I've always written it like that." "He's always written it with an H." "The rest is in order?" "Yes." "That is correct." "Does the gentleman have brothers or sisters?" "One brother, one sister." "Akila and Lemhanni..." "Do you mind if I sit on the other side?" "One brother, one sister." "The birthplace of the gentleman's father." "Ain Tuta..." " Ain Tuta!" "Will the gentleman draw his country and mark where his father was born?" "Will you draw your country with a cross where your father was born?" "I know what he wants." "A friend already told me." "He too was asked to draw his country and mark his village." "He thought of the Little Prince and drew a wide open door to heaven with clouds and colours and lots of love around." "And he rubbed out all fears, hatred and barriers." "They didn't understand his drawing and sent him back home." "God rest his soul." "A friend once told him..." " The drawing, please." "The drawing, please." "Thank you." "What is the gentleman's profession?" "Do you mind if I walk around as I talk?" "It's me, Sahafi." "Listen, I looked at the tree and I didn't see anything." "It's cloudy." "I'll look when the sun comes out and be at the office in an hour." "Inshallah." "... criminal acts..." "There are nine dead and three wounded..." "The victims were taken to the nearest hospital..." "The bombing increased fear among the locals." "You drove off without paying." "I didn't finish, but that's no reason to drive off." "If the first customer doesn't pay that brings bad luck all day." "You were my first customer." "I want my money." "Did you see it?" "I closed my eyes, but heard 3 bangs." " Only three?" "I heard a hundred." "You may have counted the echoes." "There are lots here." "I used to come here with my mother." "She said it was closer to God." "I shouted the word "why" and sometimes heard it for weeks." "Don't I know you?" "I'm going." "You can pay next time if you have no money." "You, unshaven one, here is a razor blade." "Add it to your collection." "You just need to buy a holder." "The arm of Islamic Jihad is sharper than this blade that will cut your throat." "We should all relax a bit." "What's up?" "Did I scare you?" "There are only pizzas." "Four seasons, pizza sole mushrooms, tuna and one with prawns." "Wait." "You ordered the prawns." "Yours with mushrooms." "Yours is tuna." "You have the pizza sole and you had the four seasons." "I know, they're all the same but imagine we had mushrooms, then that would be a mushroom pizza." "And if we had Tuna and if we had prawns." "Then that would be a prawn pizza." "I can't help it." "It's the economic crisis." "Anyway you ordered it that way." "Bon appetit..." "Here's your money." "Get lost." "Shall I give the keys back and knock in future?" "So I won't scare you." "Get out of here, little devil." "I am a Speaker of the Truth." "That's my profession." "You know the 1001 nights?" "You know Sheherezade, who had to tell stories so as not to die?" "We are just like Sheherezade." "If we remain silent, we die." "So we have to speak." "And make no mistake about it Sheherezade told the Truth." "A truth in which all people's desires, hopes and dreams are hidden." "The King needed 1001 nights to understand that people like Sheherezade should never remain silent." "Are you an Enemy of the State?" "I'm an enemy of nothing and no one." "I'm an enemy of nothing and no one." "I am against nothing and no one." "I am against nothing and no one." "I am for something..." "I am for something and for someone." "...and for someone." "Do you have an ashtray?" "Thank you." "The arm of Islamic Jihad is sharper than this blade that will cut your throat." "We speak for fear of silence because we don't know if silence means life or death." "We have to speak so we don't forget who we are and what we want to be every moment of the day and night report the names of all visitors and the nature of your relationship." "You must also have a medical check once a week." "To stamp your card once a week." "To shower twice a week." "Three times a week, Dutch lessons." "Four times a week, group therapy." "My name is..." "I come from..." "I was born on..." "Married..." "Children..." "The names of my children are..." "It's a new learning method." "You learn the language and don't forget who you are and where from." "I am a file under consideration." "To what do you owe the honour?" "I'm dead, assassinated." "Why do you speak so bizarrely?" "I cannot bear silence, so I speak." "What do you say when you speak?" " The Truth." "You like problems." " It's my profession." "They banned songs, because songs penetrate the soul." "They banned roads, because roads lead to people and not to God." "They banned birds, because birds cut off the road of prayer." "They banned trees, because trees are too attached to the earth." "They banned wells, because wells question the goodness of heaven." "They banned calendars, because calendars believe a day will come." "They banned laughter, because laughter turns its back on hell." "They banned caresses, because caresses pay homage to the body." "They banned women, because women are a plot made by life." "If you are afraid, it means this is not your country anymore." "That's what they write about you!" "Those Communists." "Those heathens!" "Those enemies of Islam." "They speak of Truth, but there is but one truth." "The Truth of the Book." "These apostates deserve one punishment: death." "What's the matter?" "I'm worried." "The whole country's worried." "I keep telling myself I'm not afraid but I'm terribly afraid." "For you, for the children, for myself." "Give me the glass." "Hello..." " What you want, my child?" "My mother asks if she can borrow 200 dinar and a glass of oil." "You can have them back next week." " Inshallah..." ""Inshallah." God willing." "We hope that Allah will always make sure it happens." "But if it doesn't happen, we say it's "Mektoub", fate that's engraved on everyone's forehead." "It's as if we have distanced ourselves from our own will." "We are trapped between Inshallah and Mektoub." "Where and how does your family live?" "Where does your family live and in what conditions?" "Amin, Fadila, Zina, dinner!" "Come on, hurry up." "Help me." "Say I must leave before I change my mind again." "Can you say with certainty that you or a relative has ever been subject to threats." "If so, by whom and what kind of threats?" ""Can you say with certainty that you or a relative..." ""...has ever been subject to threats." ""If so, by whom and what kind of threats?"" "Can you be sure the area where you lived was unsafe and dangerous?" "Have you ever been tortured?" "Can you prove it?" "Can you say with certainty..." "Can you prove..." "Can you say with certainty..." "Can you prove..." "Good evening." " Good evening." "What are you doing here?" " Nothing." "Your papers." "You aren't terrorists, are you?" "Do we look like terrorists?" "Why are you by the newspaper offices?" " Watch out." "If you do something, we intervene." "Good evening." " Good evening." "What are you doing here?" "I want to go to work." "I know you." "You are a Speaker of the Truth." "Beware, there are many suspicious types." "We saw four in a car." "What are you going to do about it?" "They have done nothing." "But if they do, we intervene." "But they may regard your presence as provocation." "My presence?" "Provocation?" "If you say so..." "Good evening." "Look after yourself." "You speak about certainty." "I have certainty." "One is called the Unshaven, the other Kamel." "Both were very dear friends." "I'm sorry to interrupt you." "It's lunchtime." "We'll break for half on hour." "It's lunchtime." "Did you bring some lunch?" "Don't worry about me." "Thank you." "I'm on a diet." "I can only offer you carrot juice or celery juice." "If you like..." "No thank you." "You can come out now, they've gone." "I think I know you..." "Aren't you the son of..." " Don't say anything." "Don't ask questions." "Don't answer questions people ask." "The questions can cost you as much as the answers." "Listen to your anger, do not obey it." "Think, but do not worry." "One day you'll understand." "My father said that to me." "So I am here and wait for that day." "Some say my father is in hell and others say paradise..." "They say he is in heaven." "Is it true that if man had not made heaven and hell there would never have been good and evil?" "... increasing from day-to-day and this arm is able  to follow and kill traitors and apostates wherever they are  at home or abroad..." "Where do you have to go?" "It doesn't matter." "Just drive." "The music, friend." "What about the music?" " Turn it up." "This is our country's blues." "Dahmane el Harrrachi." "God rest his soul." "Why say that?" "He is dead." "You have to say "God rest his soul" if someone is dead." "You are listening to his music and his voice, and you say he is dead?" "He is not dead." "He shall never die." "That is true." "You are right, sir." "You have a point." "Bravo!" "D'you mind if I pick up this man?" "No." "Do what you like." " Thanks." "Good evening." "God protect us." "Turn the music off." "I said: turn the music off." "Dahmane el Harrachi." "He is an enemy of religion." "Just like the Others." "Rude and vulgar language!" "Servants of the oppressors." "To hell with them." "They deserve death." "You bring up your children that way?" "With such language?" "You can buy cassettes of the Koran." "Let them listen to that." "Be they at home or abroad their lives will come to an end." "Whether they hide behind impenetrable walls or behind the curtains of the Holy Kaâba..." "Omar!" "Open the door." "Omar, it's me, Sahafi." "I know..." "I know what you thinking." "But I'm alone." "Listen, I know you're behind the door." "Listen..." "Sahafi." "It's me." "Hamid..." "I know what you're thinking." "I'm alone." "Don't worry." "I know you're behind the door, listening to me." "What have they done to us?" "What have they done to us, Omar?" "We don't trust our friends anymore, nor our brothers." "You want to kill me." "Cowards!" "I'm not afraid of you." "I shall never keep quiet." "I swear it." "I shall not remain silent." "I had a dream last night." "I asked you: who kills who?" "You looked at me, stood up and said..." "Come on." "What I shall tell you has to remain secret." "To kill a reporter or a writer you only need one or two terrorists." "But to kill a whole village you need an army." "I didn't say THE army I said AN army..." "It's your dream, okay." "But don't twist my words." "You don't know what the army is capable of." "I never thought a glass of beer could be so beautiful." "Fresh and perspiring." "Don't hold it too long." "It'll get warm." "Warm beer is like piss, excuse my language." "I could have stayed silent." "You could have." "What do you mean:" "I could have?" "No way." "Everything I did and wrote is important." "They won't forget me." "They'll never forget me." "Maybe you're right." "They won't forget us." "You know..." "You shouldn't believe the gossip that they will shake hands and forget about the past and start anew." "That it's all been for nothing." "God rest the souls of those who died." "And God bless those who left." "I can't believe it." "Soon they'll shake hands and laugh at me." "Are you a member of a political party?" "Can you prove it?" "Is your life in danger if you return?" "Can you prove it?" "Easy." "Can you prove it?" "How do you see your future?" "My future?" "I can't see anything at all." "We're in the shit and you talk about the future." "I am homesick for my mother's bread." "Her coffee, her touch..." "My childhood grows in me." "Day by day." "I love life because if I died I would be ashamed of my mother's tears." "If I return one day, lay me as a veil before your eyelashes." "Cover my bones with grass." "Blessed by the purity of your heels." "Strengthen my bond with a lock of your hair..." "With a thread hanging from the train of your dress maybe I should become a God." "I would become a God if I touched the depths of your heart." "What a disgrace!" "Crying at our age." "Yes, it's a disgrace." "Tell him we'll consider his file." "He'll hear as soon as a decision is made." "I know what you're thinking." "I'd rather stay neutral." "The question of neutrality should be posed." "Did she ever help?" "It would be an interesting discussion." "It's never too late." "You'll hear as soon as..." "a decision has been taken." "I don't know if I'll still be here." "You are finished." "I say hello." "I managed to stop time but for how long?" "I cannot say it..." "with certainty." "He says he has stopped time but he doesn't know for how long." "He can't say that with certainty." "You have all the time to decide about me." "Weeks, months or maybe years." "But I..." "Pistols are pointing at me ready to fire their bullets at any moment." "But they hesitate, they're not sure whether to aim at the heart to end love or at the head, to end the hope and dreams that we carry with us." "I only have a fraction of a second to decide but I don't want to yet." "Hello." "Thank you." "Kamel, they'll recognise your head at once." "They frightened you, didn't they?" "If you're not in favour, you're against." "And if you're not against, then you're in favour." "They're not crazy." "They know what they want." "It is death." "Death!" "Come on!" "I'm not afraid of you!" "Allah is great." "There is but one God." "That is Allah." "And Mohammed is his prophet." "Algeria!" "Free and democratic!" "Algeria!" "Free and democratic!" "If the mirror gets involved, things get very complicated." "Bitter..." "If one day you see a stranger in the mirror wearing your clothes and with your eyes and mouth that means you're done for." "It's too sweet." "Do you have guitar strings, please?"