Paris (AFP)
The film "Papicha" by Mounia Meddour, an ode to the freedom and resistance of women in Algeria, through the fate of a group of young girls during the decade of terrorism, won the César award for best first film on Friday evening.
"It took me a lot of courage to decide to tell this personal story, which is also painful but which was necessary. It is an important testimony to the fight of women in Algeria, of the fight of women in general", a declared Mounia Meddour when receiving her award.
"Thank you for thanking us on the other side of the Mediterranean. And I would say + One, two, three, Viva l'Algérie +", she added. "Thanks to the Cannes Film Festival, to Thierry Frémaux, who allowed the film to live as it lives today"
Noticed in May at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard section, then rewarded with three prizes at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, "Papicha" tells the story of Nedjma, a student in Algiers in the 90s, embodied by Lyna Khoudri, who was awarded the César award for best female hope.
Nedjma lives in a university city and dreams of becoming a fashion designer. As the political situation deteriorates - posters plastered outside then in the university city, girls in hijab intervening during the courses then in the rooms, acts of violence -, this young girl, who refuses Islamist terror, decides to defy the prohibitions by hosting a fashion show.
A work full of vitality, carried by the whirlwind of energy of its actresses, "Papicha" draws its inspiration first from the memories of the Franco-Algerian filmmaker, born in 1978. Daughter of the director Azzedine Meddour, she did a year studying journalism in Algeria, before her family decided to leave the country, where her father was threatened.
The film, which represented Algeria at the Oscars, has not yet been released in the country. The preview of the film in Algeria scheduled for September 21, then its release on the screens of the country had been canceled at the last moment, without explanation by the authorities. According to its producers, it should be able to go out soon.
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