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El Hedi ben Salem

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El Hedi ben Salem
Born
El Hedi ben Salem m'Barek Mohammed Mustafa

c. 1935
Morocco
Died1977 (aged 43-44)
Nîmes, France
Other namesSalem El Hedi
Salem El Heïdi
El Hedi Ben Salem
Elhedi Ben Salem
Years active1971–1975
Children5

El Hedi ben Salem (c. 1935[1] – 1977) was a Moroccan actor, best known for his work with film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Early life

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Salem was born El Hedi ben Salem m'Barek Mohammed Mustafa in a small village in Morocco to a well to do Hartani family. At the age of 15, he married a 13-year-old girl. He and his wife eventually had five children and settled in a town near the Atlas Mountains.[2] By the early 1970s, Salem had left his wife and children and moved to Europe.[3]

Career

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In early 1971, Salem met German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder at a gay bathhouse in Paris, and the two began a romantic relationship.[4] He moved to Germany with Fassbinder and became a part of the director's entourage. He played several minor roles in Fassbinder's films. Fassbinder eventually cast Salem in the lead role in Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), a film that explores xenophobia in post-World War II Germany. In the film, Salem portrays a Moroccan immigrant living in Germany who begins a relationship with an older German woman whom he eventually marries.[5] The film brought Fassbinder worldwide critical acclaim and became Salem's best known role.[3][6] Throughout the mid-1970s, Salem continued to appear in Fassbinder's films in supporting roles. His final onscreen role was in Fassbinder's romantic drama Fox and His Friends in 1975.[7]

Relationship with Fassbinder

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Salem and Fassbinder's relationship was reportedly tumultuous. They fought frequently due in part to Salem's short temper, which turned violent when he drank.[4] While Salem and Fassbinder were living together in Germany, Fassbinder convinced Salem to bring his two teenaged sons, who lived in Morocco with Salem's estranged wife, to live with them. Against their mother's wishes, Salem brought the boys to Germany.

The arrangement did not last long as the boys were unprepared for life in a different culture, and they were frequently subjected to racism.[3][8] While Fassbinder considered the boys his own, neither he nor Salem was up to the task of raising children.[3] Both frequently drank, took drugs and often left the boys with various friends.[3] One of Salem's sons returned to his mother in Morocco, and the other went to different homes and finally a reformatory.[3]

In 1974, Fassbinder ended the relationship due to Salem's violence and drinking.[4] After the breakup, Salem's alcoholism worsened. Director Daniel Schmid, one of Fassbinder's close friends, later told film critic Roger Ebert that shortly after the break up, Salem got drunk and "went to a place in Berlin and stabbed three people."[9] Salem then returned to Fassbinder and told him "You don't have to be afraid anymore."[10]

Death

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After the stabbings, none of which were fatal, Salem fled to France aided by Fassbinder and his friends.[11] Schmid later recalled that Salem had to be "virtually smuggled out of Germany" and that Fassbinder cried the entire time they were driving Salem out of Berlin.[1]

In France, Salem was arrested and jailed. While in custody at a prison in Nîmes in 1977, Salem hanged himself.[9][12][13][14][15][16] News of Salem's death was kept from Fassbinder for years. He did not learn of his former lover's death until shortly before his own death in 1982.[11] Fassbinder dedicated Querelle (1982), his last film, to Salem.[13]

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In 2012, a documentary on Salem's life titled My Name Is Not Ali, premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival. The film was directed by German filmmaker Viola Shafik.[8]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1971 The Merchant of Four Seasons The Arab credited as Salem El Heïdi
German title: Händler der vier Jahreszeiten
1972 The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
–
 props
credited as Salem El Hedi
German title: Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant
Jail Bait [de] Franz's friend television movie
German title: Wildwechsel
1973 Eight Hours Don't Make a Day Arbeitskollege miniseries
German title: Acht Stunden sind kein Tag
Tenderness of Wolves Französischer Soldat set decorator and props
German title: Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe
World on a Wire Castro miniseries
German title: Welt am Draht
1974 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul Ali German title: Angst essen Seele auf
Martha Hotel guest television movie
1975 Like a Bird on a Wire Bodybuilder German title: Wie ein Vogel auf dem Draht
Fox and His Friends Salem the Moroccan uncredited
German title: Faustrecht der Freiheit

References

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  1. ^ a b Lorenz, Juliane; Schmid, Marion; Gehr, Herbert, eds. (1999). Chaos as Usual: Conversations about Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 5. ISBN 1-55783-359-1.
  2. ^ Katz, Robert (1987). Love Is Colder Than Death: The Life and Times of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Random House. p. 65. ISBN 0-394-53456-5.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harvey, Dennis (3 September 2012). "My Name Is Not Ali". variety.com. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Watson, Wallace Steadman (1996). Understanding Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Film as Private and Public Art. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 94. ISBN 1-57003-079-0.
  5. ^ Finke, Michael C.; Niekerk, Carl, eds. (2000). One Hundred Years of Masochism: Literary Texts, Social and Cultural Contexts. Vol. 10. Rodopi. p. 191. ISBN 90-420-0657-9.
  6. ^ Eagan, Daniel (9 December 2011). "Determining Who Made the Most Movies". smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  7. ^ "Fox and His Friends". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 21 December 2020.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ a b DeFore, John (29 August 2012). "My Name Is Not Ali (Jannat' Ali): Film Review". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  9. ^ a b Ebert, Roger (2003). The Great Movies. Broadway Books. p. 26. ISBN 0-7679-1038-9.
  10. ^ Abramovich, Alex (22 June 2003). "FILM/DVD'S; Further From Heaven". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  11. ^ a b Cappello, Mary (2007). Awkward: A Detour. Bellevue Literary Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-934137-01-7.
  12. ^ Scott, Jay (1987). Midnight Matinees: Movies and Their Makers, 1975–1985. Frederick Ungar Publishing Company. p. 49. ISBN 0-8044-6848-6.
  13. ^ a b Watson 1996 p. 107
  14. ^ "The bitter tears of Fassbinder's women". theguardian.com. 8 January 1999. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  15. ^ Peucker, Brigitte, ed. (2012). A Companion to Rainer Werner Fassbinder. John Wiley & Sons. p. 579. ISBN 978-1-4051-9163-0.
  16. ^ Mayne, Judith (2002). Cinema and Spectatorship. Routledge. p. 169. ISBN 1-134-96688-1.
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