ON THE CROSSBAR (2019)
90 min - Documentary
In June 1978, Tunisia entered the international football scene as the first African team ever to win a match in the World Cup finals. By the time the team members arrived home and were hailed as heroes and the ”great epic of Argentina”, the Tunisian people have forgotten they have just gone through some of the worst events in their history since independence. Just a few months before, tensions between the only party and the main trade union had led to confrontations on the streets. This caused more than 500 deaths in only one day. Black Thursday, January 26th, 1978, remains to date the bloodiest episode in contemporary Tunisian history, more so than the 2011 revolution. The football team had saved the regime in 1978 and offered a happy ending to a black year.
Director: Sami TliliDoha Film Institution
