The berrah : the town crier

Collection title

EPTV Collection

ID

EPT00436

Source

EPTV (DZ)

First broadcast date

11/12/2006

Production year

2006

Abstract

Before it falls into the oblivion, inquiry on a human and ancestral communication media : a profession in itself which served as an oral transmission relay for centuries. Making use of drum, bell, trumpet, the Berrah (town crier) was moving on the squares and markets, announced his presence and recited his text aloud. The passage from an oral society to a written society and then to an society of image was made through complex and various transitions. Indeed, each culture and each region of the world has lived and has faced these transitions at their own rhythm. If the profession of Berrah is considered as heritage in the Western World, it remains in force in other regions, particularly in Algeria in the Kabylie region, as shown in this documentary by Fouzia Mikari.

Type

video

Production companies

• EPTV - Own production

Broadcaster

EPTV - 1st national channel

Audiovisual form

Documentary

Primary theme

Society and way of life

Secondary themes

• Art, Culture and Knowledge / Media

Credits / Cast

• Mikari Fouzia - Journalist
• Meratia Abdelaziz - Director

Period of events

• From 1800 to 1850

Map locations

• Algeria - Kabylie - Djurdjura

Original language

Arabic

Media running time

25m12