Doha Film Institute
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On February 16th, ten days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term, a popular pacifist insurgency erupted in Algeria. It swelled steadily into a revolution, the widest since independence in 1962. Nardjes, a young Algerian woman, joined the protests against the repression that has crippled the country.
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

About the Director

Karim Aïnouz
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 Ho
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