Roma wa la n’touma

Kamel dreams of returning to Italy, where he once baked pizzas, this time leaving Algeria for good and bringing his girlfriend Zina with him. They will need documents, so the couple embark on a journey from the urban center to deserted suburbs in search of the immigrant smuggler who can help them. Ongoing strife between government forces and Islamist opposition is so much a part of day-to-day living that Kamel and Zina ignore the danger they face on the road. “Tariq Teguia calls his debut feature ‘a slow-motion road movie’, but it is a road movie only in the abstract. Much of the travel takes place on streets without names or numbers and through a maze of buildings – a symbolic dead end. Short asides into the lives of Islamic fundamentalists and other would-be emigrants limn Algeria’s dire situation and underline the desperation behind Kamel’s desire to leave. yet even as the pair’s languid odyssey grows ever more quixotic, the drama never quite slips into tragedy, buoyed on by the lovers’ uncomplaining acceptance of whatever fate throws them and an embrace of life that contains the possibility of a brighter future.” (Pam Grady)
With HAÇLA