NARDJES A.
Fall Grants 2019 - Post-Production Stage
Karim Aïnouz / Feature Documentary / France, Algeria, Germany, Brazil, Qatar / 85 min / Original Language: Amazigh, Arabic, French / Interests: Politics, History, Social Issues, Creative Documentary
Synopsis
March 8th, 2019, International Women’s Day and the third consecutive Friday that the city of Algiers hosts a massive mobilization against the candidacy of Abdelaziz Bouteflika for his fifth presidential term. This date is also the starting point of this documentary film. It follows a day in the life of Nardjes, a young Algerian woman who finds in the protests demanding the resignation of their president also a space to claim what had been promised and stolen from her—her future. It is 65 years that separate the protests of 2019 from the struggles of independence of Algeria in which her own family has suffered so much. Wounds that Nardjes carries with her today. Underneath the vision of freedom and democracy, three generations are related in time.
This film is an intimate portrait of the soul of the young, the betrayed generation. The generation that made president Abdelaziz Bouteflika resign after nearly 20 years in power. Nardjes is one voice backed by the hundreds of thousands, chanting in the streets. But she is also a female voice in a male society. This film follows her while her whole country is marching towards an uncertain, but yet their own future.
Credits
- Director
- Karim Aïnouz
- Screenwriter
- Karim Aïnouz
- Producer
- MPM Film, Watchmen Productions, Show Guest Entertainment, CINEMA INFLAMÁVEL
About the Director
Karim Aïnouz is an award-winning film director, screenwriter and visual artist. His first feature, ‘Madame Satã’, premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2002. He also directed ‘Love for Sale’ (2006, Venice Orizzonti), ‘I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You’ (2009, Venice Orizzonti), and The Silver Cliff (2011, Cannes Directors’ Fortnight). In 2014 ‘Futuro Beach’ screened in the Berlinale Competition. The documentary ‘Central Airport THF’ premiered at the 68th Berlinale (Panorama) and won the Amnesty International Prize. ‘The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão’, his latest feature, won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.