Algiers in the nineties. Religious radicalism is gaining ground, and, further down the line, the result will be civil war. Eighteen-year-old Nedjma resists the changes via a flashy attempt to maintain her status as an independent woman – both in her relationships and in her choice of clothes. Brimming with girl power, this debut film brought a ray of light into the Un Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes fest.
Algiers in the nineties. At first, 18-year-old student Nedjma and her friend Wassila laugh at the posters calling on women to veil themselves in public. But they have no idea that this lesser expression of religious conservatism presages far more terrifying events that will eventually lead to civil war. Papicha, as she is known to her friends, refuses to be broken, fighting with an innate stubbornness against the denigration of women in the name of religion. Brimming with girl power, Algerian director Mounia Meddour’s feature debut brought a ray of light into the Un Certain Regard selection at this year’s festival in Cannes.
Anna Kořínek
106 min / Color, DCP
Director Mounia Meddour
/ Screenplay Mounia Meddour, Fadette Drouard
/ Dir. of Photography Léo Lefevre
/ Music Robin Coudert
/ Editor Damien Keyeux
/ Art Director Chloé Cambournac
/ Producer Xavier Gens, Gregoire Gensollen, Patrick André, Belkacem Hadjadj
/ Production The Ink Connection
/ Coproduction High Sea Production, Tayda Film
/ Cast Lyna Khoudri, Shirine Boutella, Amira Hilda Douaouda, Zahra Doumandji, Yasin Houicha
/ Sales Jour2Fête
Mounia Meddour (b. 1978, Algeria). Filmography: Particules élémentaires (2007), La cuisine en héritage (2009, medium-length doc.), Cinéma algérien, un nouveau souffle (2011, medium-length doc.), Edwige (2012, short), Papicha (2019)
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