Intrigued, Lina asked the production to get her tickets to the Maghreb, so that she could directly discover the local crafts. But once there, she was quickly frustrated. Her guide took her exclusively on the well-trodden paths of conventional discovery. 

Noting Lina's frustration after these first few days of harassment and lack of success, her guide understood that she was looking for authenticity as well as a change of scenery. He then suggested that she visit his native region. As luck would have it, the guide was from the Aurès, the land of Queen Dihya.

Now the Berbers were preparing to celebrate "Yennayer", the new year of the Amazigh calendar. The occasion was therefore quite found. Lina and her guide set off for Tajmint. As soon as she arrived, Lina was embarked in a sensory whirlwind of color, sound and smell. There was laughter here and there. Men wearing sumptuous tunics of colorful fabrics and women wearing gold and silver ornaments danced to the intoxicating music. Lina closed her eyes for a moment, and let the music and the smells carry her away. 

When she opened her eyes again, a stunningly beautiful young woman stood in the middle of the square. On the other side, a young man of incredible stature joined her. They embraced and began to dance, carried by the yodeling of the village women.

The couple spun around rapidly, almost disappearing in their circular movements. Only the young woman's ears shone brightly, intermittently like flames playing hide-and-seek. Amazed by this optical phenomenon, Lina tried to make her way through the crowd. When she managed to get closer, Lina's gaze immediately fell on the young woman's ears. There she discovered magnificent gold filigree earrings adorned with starry pendants, which captivated her.

The next day, Lina questioned the guide. He informed her that the young woman's earrings were an ancestral model already worn by the valiant Kahina. Lina exulted, she was holding here her accessory "coup d'éclat"! These earrings would be the symbolic thread of the courage and resistance of the female characters in "Barbaros".

So Lina had these beautiful earrings reproduced, and partly because of them, "Barbaros" won the coveted Oscar for best costume design in 1965...

Text by Jean-Philippe Samarcq.