143 rue du désert / 143 Sahara street

Ελληνική Πρεμιέρα / Greek Premiere

Μυθοπλασία/Fiction, Αλγερία, Γαλλία, Κατάρ/Algeria, France, Qatar, 2019, 100 ́, DCP, Έγχρ./Color, Αλγερινά, Αραβικά, Γαλλικά, Αγγλικά/Algerian, Arabic, French, English

Malika is the owner of a small one-table road-cafe, which serves only tea, eggs and water, and lies somewhere along the national route, in the desert, some 10 hours drive south of Algiers. Α passer-by describes Malika as a “gatekeeper of the void”. However, the hybrid film of Hassen Ferhani, due to the elements of observational documentary it contains, shows that this seemingly desolate place is actually teeming with life. Truckers, tourists on motorcycles, and regulars, who bring her news from the close-by city of El Menia, are served in Malika’s doorstep, while she remains always there.

Hassen Ferhani //  Hassen Ferhani was born in Algiers in 1986. His film Tarzan, Don Quichotte et nous (2013), which was presented at the festivals of Marseille and Locarno, already reflected his interest in documentary bordering on fiction. Roundabout in My Head (2015), shot in slaughterhouses in Algiers, was his first feature.

Σκηνοθεσία/Direction Hassen Ferhani,
Σενάριο/Screenplay Hassen Ferhani,
Φωτογραφία/Cinematography Hassen Ferhani
Μοντάζ/Editing Stéphanie Sicard, Nadia Ben Rachid, Nina Khada, Hassen Ferhani
Ήχος/Sound Antoine Morin
Παραγωγή/Production Narimane Mari, Olivier Boischot, Allers Retours Films, Centrale Électrique
Ηθοποιοί/Cast Malika, Chawki Amari, Samir Elhakim
Προέλευση ταινίας/Film Source Centrale Électrique, Pascale Ramonda

* Suitable for English speaking audience