Cinema
Zone interdite
Ahmed Lallem · 1974
Synopsis
May 1945, during the repression of the nationalist demonstrations: a militant is killed. His son spends years lost in conjecture about the circumstances of the murder, which some regard as dubious, then commits himself to the ideal for which his father died. November 1954 draws near, and the question of who killed takes on a different light.
Context
The national film office produced this feature film, the first of the two fiction films by a director who came from documentary. The invented story alternates with archive footage, a common device in Algerian production of those years, to trace the political awakening of a village as the revolution approaches. Ahmed Malek composed the music, Nasreddine Guenifi shot it, and Sid Ahmed Agoumi plays a part. The film bears the Arabic title Al-Faiza.
Who it is for
A subtitled feature film, easy to follow, which assumes knowing what the days of May 1945 in Algeria were. It should be known that the invented narrative is regularly interrupted by documents of the period.
Prizes and reception
Presented at the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes in 1975; regarded, together with its author's second fiction film, as one of his two major works.