No Kidding

By Brigitte Paturzo

Her life goes on despite the dangers that surround her. She goes to school, plays in the streets and explores her neighborhood with her friend Sissi. She even falls secretly in love with an Arab boy. When her mother packs her suitcase and tells her she has to leave Algeria, Zaza refuses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brigitte Paturzo
• Release date: Apr 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005448684

Brigitte Paturzo

Every winter for almost twenty years, Brigitte has traveled riding her camel through the Sahara of southeast Algeria and southwest Libya. She has learned Arabic, and Tamahaq, the Tuareg language. Her passion for both cultures comes from her childhood in Algiers.The desert inspires her. It is very present in her book “Between stones and skies in the Libyan Desert”, as in her stories for children, in which she relates the adventures of a young camel, Couscous, and which are illustrated with her own gouaches.Brigitte lives and works in Nice, France.

Book preview

NO KIDDING

Algiers, 1962

Screenplay

By Brigitte Paturzo

EXT. STREET IN DOWNTOWN ALGIERS – EVENING

MOTHER (38), a pretty woman with dark hair holds her purse and a string bag filled with provisions as she navigates through the bustling crowd. She is dressed in a gray suit, a black coat left open, and black heels.

An A line bus arrives, passes her, and stops at a bus stop a bit ahead.

She runs in an attempt to catch it, but the bus departs, leaving her with a look of annoyance on her face.

SUPERIMPOSE: ALGIERS 1962

Other women arrive at the bus stop, carrying provisions too. Some are dressed in white, donning a haik that covers their body and a litham that conceals their faces.

WOMAN 1

(to no one in particular)

Did anyone see the bus to Hydra?

MOTHER

We just missed it.

WOMAN 1

Just my luck.

MOTHER

Same here… It’s my daughter’s birthday tonight.

The other women share their disappointment and exchange comments.

Another A line bus arrives, and the women gather around.

MOTHER

Already here? That was quick!

WOMAN 1

We’re lucky.

Everyone rushes through the back door of the bus.

INT. IN THE BUS – EVENING

The bus starts after its doors close.

The majority of the passengers are women. Some grab onto the hanging straps and the mother glances anxiously at her watch, visibly upset.

In the distance, an explosion reverberates. A sense of unease spreads through the bus, and everyone exchanges concerned looks.

WOMAN 1

Did you hear that?

MAN 1

It’s a bomb.

WOMAN 2

Will this ever stop?

The streets are congested with traffic, and the bus is moving very slowly.

Suddenly, another man points toward the front windshield, shouting.

MAN 2

Look there! Smoke!

Screams erupt from among the passengers.

The bus proceeds slowly and approaches a smokescreen. Through it, a bus can be seen stopped along a sidewalk. The passengers are in a state of shock as they pass by the scene of the tragedy.

WOMAN 2

It exploded!

The mother gazes out the window, her face twisted in fear and horror. Amidst the billowing smoke, she sees the bus torn apart by an explosion, its rear consumed by flames. On the sidewalk, survivors struggle to breathe amid screams, cries, and desperate pleas, while others lie motionless.

WOMAN 2

Was it a grenade?

MAN 2

Looks like a bomb.

WOMAN 3

Oh, my God! Protect us! We’ll all die if this continues.

They pass by the harrowing scene. The mother glances back. The bus that exploded is also an A line bus.

WOMAN 1

That’s the bus to Hydra. I almost boarded it.

Fear etches itself onto the mother’s face as the passengers voice their complaints and comments, reflecting the tense atmosphere.

EXT. STREET IN HYDRA – NIGHT

It is dark. A young girl, ZAZA (11), with curly brown hair, steps out from a low building fronted by a row of small private gardens. She wears a gray coat and white pumps. The street is dimly lit, empty of sidewalks and cars. On the opposite side of the building, high stone walls conceal villas.

Zaza walks toward a small unpaved plaza where eucalyptus trees sway in the wind. She gazes toward the main street, which appears deserted. She paces back and forth between the plaza and her building.

On the ground floor of her building, a young girl, NICOLE (11), lifts the window curtains to peer outside. Zaza waves at her, and the curtain drops. The building lights up, and Nicole emerges.

Zaza walks up to Nicole. The girl’s forehead is prominent, and her hair is tied back in a long ponytail. Zaza notices black and blue marks on Nicole's neck.

ZAZA

Did your father hit you?

NICOLE

No.

ZAZA

You can tell me, Nicole. I won’t tell anyone.

NICOLE

I bumped my head against the door.

Suddenly, NICOLE’S FATHER (42), tall and grumpy, steps out of the building.

NICOLE’S FATHER

What the hell are you doing outside, you little brat? Get back inside! I’ll teach you a lesson!

Nicole hurries inside, running with her head down. As she passes her father, she hunches even more. They disappear into the building.

NICOLE’S FATHER (OFF SCREEN)

Here, take that! I don’t want you going outside! You hear me?

Nicole’s screams echo through the night air. Zaza grows fearful and goes back to the plaza.

A bus arrives, and Zaza's mother steps off.

MOTHER

What are you doing out here, Zaza? You'll catch a cold.

ZAZA

I was worried.

They embrace each other.

ZAZA

When you’re late, I think your bus got blown up by a bomb.

They walk toward the building.

ZAZA

You know, Mum, Nicole’s father hits her.

MOTHER

Did she tell you?

ZAZA

No, but she has several bruises on her neck.

MOTHER

Don’t go to her apartment.

PAUL (12) exits the building on roller skates, quickly greets them goodnight, and skates away.

MOTHER

Is he your boyfriend?

ZAZA

He has beautiful green eyes, doesn’t he?

They enter the building.

INT. ZAZA’S APARTMENT – EVENING

A daily calendar on a kitchen wall displays Monday, February 26, 1962.

Beneath it, on a table covered with a red checkered oilcloth, Zaza's mother lights eleven birthday candles on a