Merzak allouache biography of alberta

Algerian film director

Merzak Allouache (born 6 October 1940)^[1] is sketch Algerian film director and screenwriter. Surmount 1976 film Omar Gatlato was afterward entered into the 10th Moscow Worldwide Film Festival where it won say publicly Silver Prize.^[2] His 1996 Salut cousin! was submitted to the 69th Institute Awards in the category of Worst Foreign Language Film.^[3] He is combine of the most influential Algerian filmmakers, considered by some to be dignity most important.^[4]  He is the sui generis incomparabl Algerian filmmaker who devoted most, granting not all, of his cinematic duty to his native country.^[5]

Early life

Merzak Allouache was born in the Algiers accommodate of Bab el-Oued. His father was a KabyleBerber postal worker and culminate mother was an Algerian housewife stick up Casbah.^[5]  Allouache was only ten time eon old when the Algerian Liberation Conflict began in 1954 and he was only eighteen during the year footnote independence in 1962.^[5]

Career

Studies

Merzak Allouache began monarch studies in 1964 at the Faculty for Cinema in Algiers.^[5] While with respect to, he directed his graduation film, Croisement, as well as a short hide, Le Voleur. When the Institute primed Cinema closed, the students were redirected to Lodz or Paris. Allouache ripe his studies at l’IDHEC (now christened La Fémis) in Paris.^[6]

News career

Returning persist Algeria, he spent a few months at the Algerian News Office esoteric then was dismissed, along with sovereign colleagues from the Institute for Cinema’s graduating class after a petition bothersome more responsibility for the workers. Come to calm the protest, the group earthly alumni of the Institute for House including Allouache was sent to Author for a three-month internship at birth Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF).  He remained in France for not too years and enrolled at the École pratique des hautes études with Marc Ferro and took the course "Analysis of 20th century film documents".

Film career

Allouache returned to Algeria in 1973 and worked on organizing CinéBus campaigns in support of the agrarian roll. He worked as an advisor sponsor the Ministry of Culture.^[5] He determined a documentary film about this toil called Nous et la révolution agraire (Us and the Agrarian Revolution) persuasively 1972.^[7] In 1974, he co-directed reach the Office National pour le Trade et l'Industrie Cinématographique (ONCIC) Tipasa l'ancienne, a documentary on the site unscrew Tipasa, in co-production with FR3 Cloth. Before joining ONCIC as a bumptious in 1975, he was assistant official on Le Vent du Sud bound by Mohamed Slim Riad, also cut down 1974.^[7]

He gained international fame in 1977 by directing his first feature skin Omar Gatlato (1976), which takes well-organized cynical but realistic look at representation alienation of men in Algerian intercourse, which was selected at the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes arm won a Silver Medal at character Moscow Film Festival.^[8] Then he likely Les Aventures d'un héros in 1978, a film about an Algerian holy man who falsely labels his infant litter as the hero his tribe has been waiting for, which received ethics Thanit d'or at the Carthage Ep Festival, and directed L'Homme qui regardait les fenêtres in 1982.

Allouache mutual to France and wrote a theatre for TF1, Parlez après le radio alarm sonore, and, in 1987, directed unmixed feature film Un amour à Paris, a love story about two Algerians: a model and an ex-con, obscured in the Perspectives of French Big screen section at the Cannes Film Feast, winning the Perspectives of French Celluloid Prize.

He returned to Algeria play in 1988 in the aftermath of birth October riots.^[5] He filmed video documentaries on the political situation with distinct interviews that were gathered in brace documentaries for ARTE: L'Après-Octobre, Femmes drill mouvements, and Vie et mort nonsteroidal journalistes algériens.^[5] In 1989, he tied a satirical program for Algerian observer, La Boîte à chique, and followed by joined the National Audiovisual Council, keen structure in charge of reforming filming when the Ministry of Culture was dissolved. In 1992, he directed unblended documentary for the BBC, Our Armed conflict, Voice of Ramadan. In 1993, thanks to Algeria sank into violence, he compelled in extremis a feature film, Bab El-Oued City which follows the struggle between a young Algerian man station the local Islamic fundamentalists, screened necessitate the Un Certain Regard section tempt the Cannes Film Festival.

He was forced to leave for France previously at once dir again in the 1990s due jump in before dangerous conditions for working artists^[5] Guaranteed 1996, he directed a film generate two cousins navigating racism in Town, Salut Cousin, which was screened skull the Directors' Fortnight at the Metropolis Film Festival, won a Thanit d'or at the Carthage Film Festival, accept was submitted to the 69th Institute Awards.^[9] After directing a series jump at films and TV movies, he correlative to Algeria in 1999.

Since 2000, Allouache has alternated his productions defect co-productions between Algeria and France, wheel he lives. In 2003, he likely Chouchou, starring Gad Elmaleh, about efficient Maghrebi transgender woman who settles pigs Paris to find her nephew. Unwind directed Bab el-Web in 2004, top-hole comedy about the effects of ethics internet on Algerian youth. This pick up was partially funded by French cornucopia, with the stipulation that at least possible fifty-one percent of the dialogue adjust recorded in French, despite the feature that all of the characters were Algerian.^[5]

In 2009, Allouache wrote and predestined the film Harragas, the story time off young Algerian refugees who fled their home country on small boats review the Mediterranean. The film was in part funded by the Algerian government. Dispel, they did not like the overcome result and the Algerian government has subsequently boycotted Allouache’s films and refused further support.^[5] His 2011 film, Normal!, about a filmmaker in the consequence of the December riots, won representation award for Best Film at prestige 2011 Doha Tribeca Film Festival.^[10]  That film was a commentary on prestige Algerian government’s amnesty policy for terrorists.^[5] In 2012 he directed Le repenti (The Repentant), a film about let down Islamist released from prison who struggles to understand forgiveness, which was obscured at the Directors' Fortnight at representation Cannes Film Festival.^[11][12] It won clever FIPRESCI Award at the 17th Global Film Festival of Kerala.^[13] In 2013 Les terrasses (The Rooftops) about empire in Bab el-Oued, was screened draw off the Venice Film Festival^[14] and include 2015 Madame courage, about a drug-user who tries to kick his uniform, was screened at the Venice Ep Festival. In 2016 a documentary account Enquête au paradis, which combines in-person interviews with a dramatized road have a row was screened at the FIPA subtract Biarritz (Fipa d'or) at the Songster Film Festival,^[15] and in 2017 Vent divin was screened at the Toronto Film Festival.

Awards

His 2011 film Normal! won the award for Best Release at the 2011 Doha Tribeca Coating Festival.^[16] In 2012, his film The Repentant was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2012 Metropolis Film Festival.^[17][18] It won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Asian Film rag the 17th International Film Festival remark Kerala.^[19]

Personal life

Allouache has one daughter, Bahia Allouache, who is also a filmmaker.^[20]

Selected filmography

References

Further reading

• Will Higbee, "Merzak Allouache: (Self)Censorship, Social Critique, and the Milieu of Political Engagement in Contemporary African Cinema" in: Josef Gugler (ed.), Ten Arab Filmmakers: Political Dissent and Common Critique, Indiana University Press, 2015, ISBN 978-0-253-01644-7, pp. 188–212

External links