Merzak Allouache (born 6 October 1940) is an Algerian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. His 1976 film '' Omar Gatlato'' was later entered into the 10th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Silver Prize. His 1996 '' Salut cousin!'' was submitted to the 69th Academy Awards in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. He is one of the most influential Algerian filmmakers, considered by some to be the most important. He is the only Algerian filmmaker who devoted most, if not all, of his cinematic work to his native country.

Early life

Merzak Allouache was born in the Algiers neighborhood of Bab el-Oued. His father was a Kabyle

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

postal worker and his mother was an Algerian housewife from

Casbah A kasbah (, also ; , , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasbah, qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term in Spanish (), which is derived from the same ...

. Allouache was only ten years old when the Algerian Liberation War began in 1954 and he was only eighteen during the year of independence in 1962.

Career

Studies

Merzak Allouache began his studies in 1964 at the Institute for Cinema in Algiers. While there, he directed his graduation film, ''Croisement'', as well as a short film, ''Le Voleur''. When the Institute for Cinema closed, the students were redirected to Lodz or

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Allouache completed his studies at l’IDHEC (now called La Fémis) in Paris.

News career

Returning to Algeria, he spent a few months at the Algerian News Office and then was dismissed, along with his colleagues from the Institute for Cinema’s graduating class after a petition demanding more responsibility for the workers. To calm the protest, the group of alumni of the Institute for Cinema including Allouache was sent to France for a three-month internship at the

Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française The (; ORTF; , or French Radio and Television Broadcasting Office) was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1975, with providing public radio and television in France. All programming, especially news broadcasts, were under strict cont ...

(ORTF). He remained in France for several years and enrolled at the

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

with

Marc Ferro Marc Ferro (; 24 December 1924 – 21 April 2021) was a French historian. Author of several books, including '' The Use and Abuse of History''. Life and career Marc Ferro was born in Paris to a Greek-Italian father and a Russian-born Jewish mot ...

and took the course "Analysis of 20th century film documents".

Film career

Allouache returned to Algeria in 1973 and worked on organizing CinéBus campaigns in support of the agrarian revolution. He worked as an advisor for the Ministry of Culture. He directed a documentary film about this work called ''Nous et la révolution agraire'' (''Us and the Agrarian Revolution'') in 1972. In 1974, he co-directed for the Office National pour le Commerce et l'Industrie Cinématographique (ONCIC) ''Tipasa l'ancienne'', a documentary on the site of Tipasa, in co-production with FR3 Marseille. Before joining ONCIC as a director in 1975, he was assistant director on ''Le Vent du Sud'' directed by Mohamed Slim Riad, also in 1974. He gained international fame in 1977 by directing his first feature film '' Omar Gatlato'' (1976), which takes a cynical but realistic look at the alienation of men in Algerian society, which was selected at the Semaine de la Critique in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

and won a Silver Medal at the

Moscow Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to 1959, it was hel ...

. Then he directed ''Les Aventures d'un héros'' in 1978, a film about an Algerian father who falsely labels his infant son as the hero his tribe has been waiting for, which received the Thanit d'or at the Carthage Film Festival, and directed ''L'Homme qui regardait les fenêtres'' in 1982. Allouache returned to France and wrote a screenplay for

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

, ''Parlez après le signal sonore'', and, in 1987, directed a feature film ''Un amour à Paris'', a love story about two Algerians: a model and an ex-con, screened in the Perspectives of French Cinema section at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Perspectives of French Cinema Prize. He returned to Algeria in 1988 in the aftermath of the October riots. He filmed video documentaries on the political situation with many interviews that were gathered in three documentaries for

ARTE Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

: ''L'Après-Octobre'', ''Femmes en mouvements'', and ''Vie et mort des journalistes algériens''. In 1989, he directed a satirical program for Algerian television, ''La Boîte à chique'', and then joined the National Audiovisual Council, a structure in charge of reforming cinematography when the Ministry of Culture was dissolved. In 1992, he directed a documentary for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, ''Our War, Voice of Ramadan''. In 1993, as Algeria sank into violence, he directed in extremis a feature film, '' Bab El-Oued City'' which follows the conflict between a young Algerian man and the local Islamic fundamentalists, screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival. He was forced to leave for France once again in the 1990s due to dangerous conditions for working artists In 1996, he directed a film about two cousins navigating racism in Paris, '' Salut Cousin'', which was screened in the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, won a Thanit d'or at the Carthage Film Festival, and was submitted to the

69th Academy Awards The 69th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 24, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremo ...

. After directing a series of films and TV movies, he returned to Algeria in 1999. Since 2000, Allouache has alternated his productions or co-productions between Algeria and France, where he lives. In 2003, he directed '' Chouchou'', starring Gad Elmaleh, about a Maghrebi transgender woman who settles in Paris to find her nephew. He directed ''Bab el-Web'' in 2004, a comedy about the effects of the internet on Algerian youth. This film was partially funded by French sources, with the stipulation that at least fifty-one percent of the dialogue be recorded in French, despite the fact that all of the characters were Algerian. In 2009, Allouache wrote and directed the film '' Harragas'', the story of young Algerian refugees who fled their home country on small boats into the Mediterranean. The film was partly funded by the Algerian government. However, they did not like the end result and the Algerian government has subsequently boycotted Allouache’s films and refused further support. His 2011 film, '' Normal!'', about a filmmaker in the aftermath of the December riots, won the award for Best Film at the 2011 Doha Tribeca Film Festival. This film was a commentary on the Algerian government’s amnesty policy for terrorists. In 2012 he directed ''Le repenti'' ('' The Repentant''), a film about an Islamist released from prison who struggles to understand forgiveness, which was screened at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. It won a

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Award at the 17th International Film Festival of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. In 2013 ''Les terrasses'' ('' The Rooftops'') about life in Bab el-Oued, was screened at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

and in 2015 '' Madame courage'', about a drug-user who tries to kick his habit, was screened at the Venice Film Festival. In 2016 a documentary fiction ''Enquête au paradis'', which combines in-person interviews with a dramatized road trip was screened at the FIPA in Biarritz (Fipa d'or) at the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, and in 2017 ''Vent divin'' was screened at the

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Awards

His 2011 film '' Normal!'' won the award for Best Film at the 2011 Doha Tribeca Film Festival. In 2012, his film '' The Repentant'' was screened in the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...

section at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti was the president of the jury for the main competition. French actress Bérénice Bejo hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Austrian filmma ...

. It won the

Award for Best Asian Film at the 17th International Film Festival of Kerala.

Personal life

Allouache has one daughter, Bahia Allouache, who is also a filmmaker.

Selected filmography

* '' Omar Gatlato'' - 1976 * '' Adventures of a Hero (Mughamarat batal)'' - 1979 * '' L'Homme qui regardait les fenêtres'' - 1986 * '' Un amour à Paris'' - 1987 * '' L'Après-Octobre'' - 1989 * '' Bab El-Oued City'' - 1994 * '' Lumière and Company (Lumière et compagnie)'' - 1995 * '' Dans la décapotable'' - 1996 * '' Hi Cousin! (Salut cousin!)'' - 1996 * '' Algiers-Beirut: A Souvenir (Alger-Beyrouth: Pour mémoire)'' - 1998, TV * ''À bicyclette'' - 2001, TV * '' The Other World (L'Autre monde)'' - 2001 * '' Chouchou'' - 2003 * '' Bab el web'' - 2005 * ''

Tamanrasset Tamanrasset (; ), also known as Tamanghasset or Tamenghest, is an oasis city and capital of Tamanrasset Province in southern Algeria, in the Ahaggar Mountains. It is the chief city of the Algerian Tuareg. It is located at an altitude of . As of ...

'' - 2008, TV * '' Harragas'' - 2009 * '' Normal!'' - 2011 * ''Tata Bakhta'' - 2011 * '' The Repentant (El taaib)'' - 2012 * ''La baie d'Alger'' - 2012 * '' The Rooftops (Es-Stouh)'' - 2013 * '' Madame Courage'' - 2015 * ''Investigating Paradise (Enquête au paradis)'' - 2017 * '' Divine Wind (Rih rabani)'' - 2018 * ''La Famille'' - 2021

References

External links

*
Merzak Allouache Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allouache, Merzak 1944 births Living people Algerian film directors Film directors from Algiers Algerian screenwriters 21st-century Algerian people Institut des hautes études cinématographiques alumni