13/07/2023 - Filming begins on 7 August with Sofiane Zermani, Khalil Gharbia, Khaled Benaissa, Adila Bendimerad, Eye Haïdara, Clotilde Courau, and Soolking in the cast; the film is produced by East Films and 24 25 Films and will be sold by Goodfellas

l-r: Actors Sofiane Zermani, Clotilde Courau (© Martin Kraft), Eye Haïdara (© Georges Biard) and Adila Bendimerad

Well known in France as a press officer, on 7 August, Hassan Guerrar will begin filming his first feature as director: Little Algérie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Standing out in the cast are Sofiane Zermani (famous under his rapper name Fianso, noticed in the series Savages [+see also:
series review
interview: Souheila Yacoub
series profile] and Algiers Confidential, soon in Avant que les flammes ne s’éteignent and La Vénus d’argent), Khalil Gharbia, Khaled Benaissa, Adila Bendimerad (appreciated in The Repentant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Merzak Allouache
film profile] and The Rooftops [+see also:
trailer
interview: Merzak Allouache
film profile], heading the cast in The Last Queen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adila Bendimerad, Damien Ou…
interview: Damien Ounouri
film profile]), Eye Haïdara (nominated in 2018 for the Most Promising Actress César and Lumière Awards for C'est la vie! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], next year in À toute allure), Clotilde Courau (nominated for the 2016 Lumière Award for Best Actress for In the Shadow of Women [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], well-received in Benedetta [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and recently at Cannes in Last Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catherine Breillat
film profile] and Marguerite's Theorem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Novion
film profile]) and Soolking.

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Written by Hassan Guerrar, Peter Dourountzis (Rascal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Dourountzis
film profile]), Audrey Diwan (nominated for the 2022 César award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Happening [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
film profile] and for the 2015 Lumière award for Best Screenplay for The Connection [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Rachid Benzine, the script centres on fifty-something Malek, who moves to the Barbès neighbourhood in Paris. There he meets a childhood friend, who awakens in him the difficult past of his family, tainted by the death of his mother whom he didn’t manage to grieve properly. His wanderings in a neighbourhood in the midst of a health crisis allow him to progressively reconnect with a part of himself that he had buried, and to make peace with his origins…

Produced by Maria Tauzia and Haan Guerrar for East Films and by Thibault Gast and Matthias Weber for 24 25 Films, Little Algérie is co-produced by Chelifilms (Patrick Gimenez). Pre-bought by France Télévsiions and Netflix, the feature film benefits from the support of the advance on receipts from the CNC, of the Ile-de-France region, and of the Sofitvcine Sofica. The seven weeks of filming will take place in Paris. French distribution will be handled by Jour2Fête and international sales by Goodfellas.

For the record, 24 25 Films (just bought by the Mediawan group) is behind the recent film Promises [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Kruithof
film profile] (Venice Orizzonti 2021) and Black Box [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2021), and will be launching Visions [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Yann Gozlan in French cinemas on 6 September (with Diane Kruger, Mathieu Kassovitz and Marta Nieto in the cast).

(Translated from French)