NARDJES A.
Fall Grants 2019 - Post-Production Stage
Karim Aïnouz / Feature Documentary / France, Algeria, Germany, Brazil, Qatar / 85 min / Original Language: Amazigh, Arabic, French / Interests: Politics, History, Social Issues, Creative Documentary
Synopsis
March 8th, 2019, International Women’s Day and the third consecutive Friday that the city of Algiers hosts a massive mobilization against the candidacy of Abdelaziz Bouteflika for his fifth presidential term. This date is also the starting point of this documentary film. It follows a day in the life of Nardjes, a young Algerian woman who finds in the protests demanding the resignation of their president also a space to claim what had been promised and stolen from her—her future. It is 65 years that separate the protests of 2019 from the struggles of independence of Algeria in which her own family has suffered so much. Wounds that Nardjes carries with her today. Underneath the vision of freedom and democracy, three generations are related in time.
This film is an intimate portrait of the soul of the young, the betrayed generation. The generation that made president Abdelaziz Bouteflika resign after nearly 20 years in power. Nardjes is one voice backed by the hundreds of thousands, chanting in the streets. But she is also a female voice in a male society. This film follows her while her whole country is marching towards an uncertain, but yet their own future.
Credits
- Director
- Karim Aïnouz
- Screenwriter
- Karim Aïnouz
- Producer
- MPM Film, Watchmen Productions, Show Guest Entertainment, CINEMA INFLAMÁVEL
- Production Company
- MPM Film
About the Director
Karim Aïnouz is an award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter and visual artist. Aïnouz debuted as a feature director with ‘Madame Satã’ (Cannes Un Certain Regard 2002). Other works include ‘Nardjes A.’ (Berlin Panorama, 2020) ‘Central Airport’ THF (Berlin Amnesty Prize 2018), ‘Futuro Beach’ (Berlin Competition 2014), ‘The Silver Cliff’ (Cannes Director’s Fortnight 2011), and ‘Love for Sale’ (Venice Horizons 2006). In 2008, Aïnouz co-directed the TV series ‘Alice’ for HBO Latin America. His latest feature, ‘Invisible Life’, premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in May 2019 where it received an award and more than 50 prizes worldwide. Aïnouz is also a screenwriting mentor at the Brazilian Institute Porto Iracema das Artes, and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
Awards and Festival History
Festivals
"Berlinale (WP), Panorama
Visions du Reel 2020 (online edition)"