Papicha
Spring Grants 2017
Mounia Meddour / Feature Narrative / Algeria, France, Belgium, Qatar / 2019 / 100 min / Original Language: Arabic, French / Interests: Women, Drama, Politics, History, Social Issues, War, Youth
Synopsis
Algeria, 1990s—Nedjma is a free-spirited and independent young student. She refuses to allow the tragic events of the Algerian Civil War keep her from experiencing a normal young woman’s life. She dreams of becoming a fashion designer, goes to university, and sneaks out at night to dance her sorrows away with her friend Wassila. Nedjma embraces life with open arms, but as the social climate becomes more conservative, she rejects the new bans set by the radicals and decides to fight for her freedom and independence by putting on a fashion show. During her personal journey of resistance, Nedjma will discover that the celebration of life is tragically often to be paid for in death.
Credits
- Director
- Mounia Meddour
- Screenwriter
- Mounia Meddour
- Producer
- Xavier Gens, Gregoire Gensollen
- Production Company
- The Ink Connection
- Production Company
- The Ink Connection
About the Director
Mounia Meddour is a Franco-Algerian film director. In 2019, she directed her first feature fiction film, 'Papicha'. The film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section and also received three awards at the Angoulême Film Festival in France. At the César Film Awards, the film was awarded twice with Best First Feature Film and Most Promising Actress. Her new film project 'Délit de Solidarité' is under development at Atelier de Production.
Awards and Festival History
Festivals
"Un Certain Regard, Festival de Cannes 2019 (WP)
Karlovy Vary FF 2019
JCC 2019
Warsaw FF 2019
Cinema Mediterraneen de Bruxelles 2019
Cinemania FF 2019
Festival du film français d'Helvétie 2019
Festival de Cine de Valladolid (Seminci) 2019
Cork FF 2019
FF
"Best Arab Narrative Film, El Gouna FF 2019
BEST FIRST FILM and BEST FEMALE NEWCOMER (Lyna Khoudri), 2020 Cesar Awards
Algeria's Official Submission for the 2020 Academy Awards - 2019 Best Foreign Language Film Race "