Director of
ALEA JACARANDAS
Born in Algiers in 1986, Hassen Ferhani is a director and cinematographer. He developed his passion for cinema at the Chrysalide film club. His short fiction film, LES BAIES D’ALGIER (2006), caught the attention of several international festivals. After that, he made AFRIC HOTEL (2010, co-directed), and TARZAN, DON QUIXOTE ET NOUS (2013).
He showed the full power of this style in his next two feature films, which won many awards. FI RASSI ROND-POINT (2015) won the Grand Prix in the French Competition at FIDMarseille, the McMillan-Stewart Fellowship at Harvard, and became the first film ever to win two Tanit d'Or awards at the Carthage Film Festival. His next film, 143 RUE DU DÉSERT (2019), won more than twenty awards around the world, as well as the Best Emerging Director award at the Locarno Film Festival.
Recently, his new documentary ALEA JACARANDAS (2026) won the Burning Lights Competition Jury Prize at the Visions du Réel International Film Festival.
Films (selection): LES BAIES D’ALGIER (2006), AFRIC HOTEL (2010), TARZAN, DON QUIXOTE ET NOUS (2013), FI RASSI ROND-POINT (2015), 143 RUE DU DÉSERT (2019), ALEA JACARANDAS (2026)