Once upon a Time
Algeria / France,
1995, 90 min
Shown in 1996
CREDITS
- dir
-
Belkacem Hadjadj
- prod
-
Djafar Djaafari
- scr
-
Belkacem Hadjadj
- cam
-
Georges Lechaptois, Rachid Merabtine
- editor
-
Rachid Mouzouka, Diane Logan
- cast
-
Hadjira Oul Bachir, Belkacem Hadjadj, Meriem Babes
- source
-
Les Films Sur La Place
- premiere
-
North American Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Belkacem Hadjadj in person.
OTHER
A gripping revenge tragedy honored with the top prize at last fall’s Montpellier Film Festival, part fairy tale and part trenchant political parable about the violence presently tearing Algeria apart. It tells the story of Arezki, a farmer in Kabylia, a mountainous southern region of Algeria, who finds a dying young man whom he takes back to his home and nurses back to life. During his convalescence Larhi, the young man, begins a relationship with Arezki’s daughter. Humiliated at the discovery that his daughter is pregnant, the farmer swears to avenge his honor on the young stranger and sets off to find him. Meanwhile, Larhi returns to the farm and accepts responsibility for the family while they wait for the father to return. Arezki continues his search far and wide, encountering many trials which test his physical and mental stamina. Finally, he returns to his village but, disgraced at his failure, hides out at the edge of the wood near his farm. Production of the film began under impossible conditions given the nation’s current political turmoil. The lead actor received so many death threats that he was forced to quit after three weeks of shooting and the director had to step in to play the part of Arezki in addition to carrying out his directorial duties without even an assistant. This extremely powerful first feature unfolds with the bold strokes of a master storyteller.
FACTOID #222
The SFIFF has honored some of cinema’s best lensers with tributes, including James Wong Howe (1974), Gabriel Figueroa (1984), Nestor Alemendros (1986), Ernest Dickerson (1991) and John Alton (1994). Cinematographer Haskell Wexler received a tribute as a featured filmmaker in the New Directors series, when he appeared with his directorial debut, Medium Cool.
