Mercredi 16 février 2022, 20h30 – Salle 300
A film by Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
With Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, Meriem Serbah, Abel Jafri, Farida Ouchani, Ramzy Bedia, Sakina Dammene-Debbih
France-Algéria, feature, 2005, color, 97 min
Synopsis
Hardly freed from a French prison, Kamel is deported in his native state, Algeria, and discovers a country split between modernity and tradition.
Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche was 2 years old when his parents moved from Algeria to the Paris region. After studying humanities, he shot his first feature film, Wesh Wesh, qu’est-ce qui se passe? in Montfermeil, in the Cité des Bosquets where he grew up, in DV, which he financed himself by selling his shares in his father’s company. Director, screenwriter and producer (the Sarrazink company was created in 1999), the charismatic Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche also plays the lead role, that of Kamel, a young man who, after serving a double prison sentence, returns illegally to France in search of a job.
After his first film, which won the Louis Delluc award for Best First Film and was hailed for its far-from-clichéd vision of the suburbs, the director set off to shoot his second feature, Bled Number One, in his native region in northeastern Algeria, with a cast largely made up of family members. We meet Kamel again, during his forced exile in Algeria, confronted with a society he knows little about. Combining documentary strength and formal audacity, the film was presented in the Official Selection at Cannes (Un Certain Regard section) in 2006, where it won the Prix de la Jeunesse. Two years later, he returned to the Croisette, this time at the Directors’ Fortnight, with Dernier maquis, a poetic and political work that tackles a delicate subject: the practice of Islam in the workplace.
The filmmaker returns in 2011 with Les Chants de Mandrin, a story set in the 18th century, in which he once again directs, writes and produces, as well as playing one of the lead roles. He shares the stage with Jacques Nolot and Hippolyte Girardot in this adventure about the execution of the popular hero Louis Mandrin. The film was selected for the Locarno and Vienna Film Festivals.
de Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
avec Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche,
Meriem Serbah
Alg.–Fr. fict. vostf 2005 coul. 1h42 (cin. num.)
A peine sorti de prison, Kamel est expulsé vers son pays d’origine, l’Algérie. Cet exil forcé le contraint à observer avec lucidité un pays en pleine effervescence, tiraillé entre un désir de modernité et le poids de traditions ancestrales.
Sélection officielle, Un certain regard, Festival de Cannes 2006
Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
Né en 1966 en Algérie, Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche arrive en France en 1968. Il grandit dans la cité des Bosquets à Montfermeil, en Seine-Saint-Denis. Après des études en sciences humaines, il fonde en 1999 la société Sarrazink Productions et réalise son premier long-métrage Wesh wesh, qu’est- ce qui se passe ? (2002). Le film obtient de nombreux prix, dont le prix Louis Delluc et le Grand Prix au Forum de Berlin du nouveau Cinéma. En 2005, il écrit, produit et réalise Bled Number One.
Revue de presse
Bled number one, de Rabah Ameur Zaïmeche | Revue Esprit