Khaled Benaissa

It is during a night in a post-reconstruction world that a masked call rings out. Cheikh Morad Djadja wanders through these non-places in search of an anonymous telecommunication space. This universe with its illusory and oppressive walls, makes us notice the existence of an abstract space-time in which a trans-identity tries to find a place. #31# (appel masqué) is a proposal halfway between documentary, fiction and installation, exploring the hidden meaning of a coded message, this one coming from a literary/musical genre, the raï.

Mostaganem, 2019. In a few weeks, five teenage girls are found dead on the beach. The bodies all bear the same marks of violence. How to explain these serial murders? Mobilizing her informers and a cop friend, Houria, a seasoned journalist, leads the investigation. And despite the pressure to give up, the young woman is pugnacious. But the decision to continue her investigation at all costs will not be without consequences.

S is a young soldier in the southern desert of Tunisia. When S learns about his mother’s death, he obtains a week’s leave and goes back home. He will never return to the camp. In his popular neighborhood starts a man hunt after which S eventually escapes through the mountain. Few years later, F, a young woman married to a rich business man who has just settled in a luxurious villa, learns of her pregnancy. One morning, she goes out alone for a walk in the forest. She will never come back.

Argelia, años 90. Nedjma es una estudiante universitaria que intenta que los acontecimientos de la guerra civil que empiezan a ocurrir a su alrededor no le impidan vivir una vida normal, salir de noche con su mejor amiga Wassila y vender vestidos hechos por ella en los baños de las discotecas. Mientras la sociedad se vuelve más conservadora, ella decide luchar por su libertad e independencia organizando con sus amigas un desfile de moda en la Universidad que desafía todas las normas establecidas.

Algeria region of the high flatlands. As Islamist groups continue to spread terror, Rashid, a young Jihadist, leaves the mountains to return to his village. In keeping with the law « of pardon and national harmony », he has to surrender to the police and give up his weapon. He thus receives amnesty and becomes a « repenti ». But the law cannot erase his crimes and for Rachid it's the beginning of a one-way journey of violence, secrets and manipulation.

Zineb is a psychiatrist assigned to Rihana, a traumatized and pregnant young woman, who was raised as a son by her dictatorial father. Rihana's story awakens repressed thoughts in Zineb's own mind.

Un pueblo de algún lugar de Argelia. Mounir, altanero y fanfarrón, quiere que todos le admiren, pero se lo impide su hermana Rym, que sufre de narcolepsia y se queda dormida en cualquier sitio, además de su fama por acostarse con el primero que pasa. Un día, al volver de la ciudad con varias copas de más, anuncia a todo el pueblo que un riquísimo hombre de negocios le ha prometido casarse a su hermana. De la noche a la mañana, todo el mundo le admira y envidia. Encerrado en su propia mentira, Mounir acabará cambiando, sin querer, el destino de los suyos… (FILMAFFINITY)

At a dangerous time in Algeria, 'Douar de Femmes' is a story of ordinary women who manage to defend themselves in extraordinary situations. The film focuses on a small village that has been attacked more often by terrorists from the surrounding mountains. While the men work, the women learn how to handle machine guns and explore the area. “Fear has armed us,” says the young woman Sabrina. But despite that fear, people get married, children come and keep watch.