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> K Films
Coffret Mohamed Chouikh
Mohamed Chouikh
Algeria, 1988-1998
fiction
THE DESERT ARK
Romeo and Juliet in the Algerian desert. Amin and Myriam are secretly in love. Their families are rivals and when their relationship is discovered, conflict is inevitable. In the quiet atmosphere of the palm groves, the two communities have long nurtured the seeds of discord and hatred. The persecution is the first signal of inevitable evil. From inside the cave where they have taken refuge, the two young people hear the cries of a senseless murderous raid. A universal metaphor to denounce the horror of all extremist violence, The Desert Ark is a splendid and terrifying metaphor for a burning contemporary reality.
YOUCEF
The conflict between the adherents of the new anti-modern version of Islam which is sometimes called "fundamentalist" and everyone else is the theme of this drama. In the story, Youcef (Mohamed Ali Allalou) fought valiantly against the French in the 1950s on behalf of Algerian independence. During the fighting, he received a head wound which left him amnesiac, and he has been in an asylum ever since. Somehow he regains his memory and surveys the present scene in his country. He perceives the fundamentalists to be every bit as great a threat to the freedoms he fought for as the French ever were, and enters into the fray against them. That the conflict in Algeria is real and bloody is witnessed by the dedication of this film to two men who were recently assassinated for their anti-fundamentalist convictions.
THE CITADEL
This grim drama reflects the inequity and hypocrisy of polygamous Arabs and their attitudes towards women. Sidi (Djillali Ain-Tedeles) oppresses his three wives to the point where one is so depressed she considers suicide. He beats his adoptive son Kaddour (Khaied Barkat) when the boy shows romantic sentimentality towards a married woman. Sidi then seduces the same woman while Kaddour performs magic to win the woman's love. Sidi and his pals spend carefree days while the women cook and weave, clad in veils that cover their entire bodies. Sidi declares he will give up his wives if he does not marry off Kaddour within a day. Kaddour is forced to go through an elaborate ceremony that humiliates him in front of the entire village and leads to tragedy.