El Gouna Film Festival

Director

Mohammed Latrèche

Mohammed Latrèche was born in Sidi Bel-Abbès (Algeria) in 1973. When he was 20, he moved to Paris to study Political Sciences. Driven by his passion for cinema, Latrèche has embarked on several artistic endeavors as a film producer, distributor, and director. His early films as a director include the documentary On the Trail of Emir Abd El- Kader (2005), a journey through history and the life of the Algerian national hero. In 2009, Latrèche directed the short, L’aide au retour, about immigration and migrants in Europe. In 2013, he continued his fascination with history, presenting the documentary L’Ugema about the origins and struggles of the General Union of Algerian Students during the liberation war and the role of student elites in defending the national cause.

ZINET, ALGIERS, HAPPINESS(2023)

(2023)

Feature Documentary Competition, Algeria, France, French, Arabic - 57 min

Director

Mohammed Latrèche

Algeria, France | 2023 | 57 min | French, Arabic

Producer Boualem Ziani, Mohammed Latrèche, Jean-François Le Corre, Sabine Jaffrennou
Production Company Vivement Lundi !, Sb Films
Screenplay Mohammed Latrèche, Sid Ahmed
Cinematography Yanis Khelloufi, Yann Seweryn, Nico Peltier
Editing Nico Peltier, Philippe Ramos
Sound Abd El-Aziz Latrèche, Joël Flescher
Cast Narrator: Mohammed Latrèche
Contacts
International Sales: Vivement Lundi!, distribution@vivement-lundi.com

About the Film

It’s been 53 years since the release of the Algerian film Tahia Ya Didou by the late Mohamed Zinet (1932-1995). This indelible cinematic work is a joyful, yet harsh masterpiece in the history of Algerian cinema. It is a declaration of love for the city of Algiers, "the joyous," capturing the sufferings of the individual and the community in a poetic language and a cinematic experimentation that merges different visual and narrative forms. However, its bold and satirical approach of reality have made this work and its creator ostracized in Algeria and abroad, on Arab and international cinema screens.

In his documentary Zinet, Algiers, Happiness, Mohamed Latrèche takes us on a personal journey in search of the film and its director between Paris and Algeria. He embraces the places and searches for the names. He meets with marginalized characters, he searches for a place to screen the film Tahia Ya Didou in the heart of the capital, the city's joy, the historic district of The Casbah. He interrogates the knowledgeable and the close ones in search of an answer that will heal his confusion and passion for Zinet’s film, which he discovered through his love for cinema.

Latrèche explores Zinet’s cinematic adventure that started with a request for a 20-minute promotional film for the city of Algiers. In his journey to find the lost images of Zinet’s film, Latrèche immerses himself in the atmosphere of the old city to talk about its glorious past, of which only ruins remain. He also explores the new changes that the city embraced in the heels of the pandemic of COVID-19. Likewise, he searches for Radwan; one of the film's characters, and the cinema in its golden age, of which only memories remain.

In his documentary film Zinet, Algiers, Happiness, director Mohamed Latrèche sets out to preserve the memory of Zinet, a unique and free-spirited filmmaker who remains largely unknown to the public who left behind only one film, Tahia Ya Didou, which embodies the spirit of freedom in Algeria today.

Nabil Hadji

ZINET, ALGIERS, HAPPINESS (2023)

(2023)

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About the Film

Director

Mohammed Latrèche

ZINET, ALGIERS, HAPPINESS(2023)

(2023)

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