O My Body! (Ô Mon Corps!)
Arab Feature Film Competition
Laurent Aït Benalla / Feature Documentary / France, Qatar / 2012 / 72 min / Colour / HDCAM
In Arabic, French / Arabic, English subtitles
Interests: Documentary, Youth
World Premiere
Synopsis
Seeking to bridge Mediterranean cultures, choreographer Abou Lagraa and his wife, dancer Nawal Lagraa, are establishing Algeria’s first contemporary dance academy. For the inaugural performance of the choreographer’s new work, ‘Nya’, the Lagraas attract a unique group of 10, all male street dancers with no qualifications. On the eve of the world premiere of ‘Nya’ at the National Theatre in Algiers, ‘O My Body!’ traces the evolution of the work and the development of the dance troupe. A cinéma-vérité style brings an intimacy to the experiences of these men as they discover new body language and fresh ways to express themselves. They started dancing to hip hop in the streets; now, they go through difficult and rigorous training to bring their skills to the level required to appear on the international stage for the first time. An inspiring backstage look at the realisation of a unique dream.
About the Directors
Born in 1976 to a Moroccan father and a French mother, Laurent Aït Benalla is one of the founders of SLAB, a Montpellier-based production centre for documentaries. His films – all so far under an hour – include ‘Un couteau et un cœur (2009); ‘Marcel Hanoun, chemin faisant’ (2010), which observes the late 81-year-old Tunisian filmmaker at work; and ‘Suite anglaise’ (2011).
Credits
- Director
- Laurent Aït Benalla
- Screenwriter
- Laurent Aït Benalla
- Producer
- Laurent Aït Benalla
- Editor
- Laurent Aït Benalla , Florence Jacquet
- Cinematographer
- Laurent Aït Benalla
- Cast
- Abou Lagraa, Nawal Lagraa, Abderaouf Bouab, Mokhtar Boussouf, Ali Braïnis, Nassim Feddal, Oussama Kouadria, Bilel Madaci, Abdelghani Meslem, Zoubir Yahiaoui, Fayçal Yagoub, Salah-Eddine Mechegueg, Mohamed Walid Ghazil