Walou
Fall Grant 2011 - Development Stage
Hassiba Belhadj / Feature Documentary / Algeria, France, Qatar / 2013 / 70 min / Colour / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Women, Documentary, Politics, History, Biography, Social Issues, Youth, Immigration, Female Director, Family, Based on a True Story, Identity
Synopsis
I hate the bled! When I was young, every summer, going to Algeria, I couldn’t do anything without my older brothers. They were treated like kings, while I was the ‘under woman’. My aunt once told me, ‘You like freedom too much’. What could that have meant? Algerians aren’t free? My aunt isn’t free? Guys leaning up against a wall, no job, nothing to do all day: I hated going to the bled because I hated their lives. In Algeria, people live on hope and regrets. What can the future be, stuck between nothing to expect and nothing to live for?
Credits
- Director
- Hassiba Belhadj
- Screenwriter
- Hassiba Belhadj
- Producer
- Olivier Daunizeau
About the Director
Hassiba Belhadj is a French-Algerian director of documentary films and a production manager with Zadig Productions in Paris. She graduated from the prestigious European Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual in France, and has worked for many years as a production manager and assistant director with well-known directors including Tanaz Eshagian, Nino Kirtadzé, Alain Bergala and William Karel.