
Bla cinima
On Meissonier square in Algiers, a little girl in conversation with Lamine Ammar-Khodja proclaims her love for vampire films and Titanic. Joyful and mischievous, she improvises herself as a reporter and asks her neighbour about his relationship with cinema. Maya is not Marceline Loridan in Chroniques d’un été, yet the man is asked to answer the question “Are you happy ?”.
This scene is representative of Bla Cinima : in a country where cinema participated in building the myth of the nation, the filmmaker mixes with inhabitants of the centre of Algiers, to speak about cinema, and he let’s himself be carried away by the improvised situation, the energy from the street and the way people get by in life. The film gives a lively portrait of the city and at the same time presents a reflection on the place of cinema in Algeria.
Festival du film de Belfort (Entrevues) 2014 – Mention Spéciale
Lamine Ammar-Khodja
The Kingdom, Marie-Odile Gazin
Sylvie Petit
Lamine Ammar-Khodja
Francine Lemaitre