Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche

PLOT: The last days of Jesus into Jerusalem, from the perspective of an unexpected Judas, presented as the closest of his disciples.Read More »

Synopsis:
A retired army man lives in the Temple Woods housing project outside Paris, where his young neighbor belongs to a local gang about to rob the convoy of an Arab prince.Read More »

Synopsis:
Halfway between documentary and fiction, ’Wesh wesh’ is a take on the everyday life of an immigrant family which is struggling to integrate into France or, rather into the ’Cite des Bosquets’ a low-income housing project in the Parisian suburbs. Like every district, it is a world of its own, with its rules and values. Mousse, the younger brother has understood how it works there. He has integrated a gang, and deals everyday with small time drug trafficking and protects his territory. On the other hand, his older brother who just came back after 2 years in prison, wants to start a normal life and integrate into society. He understands soon enough that it is hard to succeed behind the walls of ‘Les Bosquets’. He tries to find a job, with the help of his family. But without ID papers, and with the police after him, he is stuck in the neighborhood, spending time with the street kids. One day, he finds a fishing rod, and escapes from the city, going fishing in a lake, close to where he lives…Read More »

Synopsis:
After the execution of Louis Mandrin, famous outlaw and popular hero of the mid-eighteenth century, his companions risk the adventure of a new campaign of smuggling in the provinces of France. Under the protection of their weapons, smugglers organize unauthorized markets, near the villages, where they sell tobacco, fabrics and precious goods. They write songs in honor of Mandrin, print them and distribute them to the kingdom’s farmers…Read More »

SYNOPSIS
The word bled in Bled Number One, the title of Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche’s follow-up to his well-regarded debut Wesh-Wesh (What’s Going On?) in 2001, translates roughly as Hicksville. Which is precisely where Kamel ends up after being deported from France to Algeria, the land of his fathers, after doing time for robbery.

Bled is a finely observed slice of life shot in a low-key semi-documentary style. The latest in a run of French-made movies dealing with Franco-Algerian cross-currents, it speaks volumes about the conditions of life in today’s Algeria and should play well in festivals and in the Arabic-speaking world.Read More »

Au fond d’une zone industrielle à l’agonie, Mao, un patron musulman, possède une entreprise de réparation de palettes et un garage de poids-lourds. Il décide d’ouvrir une mosquée et désigne sans aucune concertation l’imam…

Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche has a way of framing shots that can make an industrial landscape look like an art project. The dominant images in Dernier Maquis are of rows of carefully stacked red pallets towering in a truck yard located on the outskirts of Paris, where most of the film takes place. Under the direction of Ameur-Zaïmeche, these unaesthetic objects become fascinating to contemplate. Since his visual approach exhibits so strong a sense of control, it is fitting that he cast himself as the company boss. The yard workers call the boss “Mao,” as his leadership style feigns benevolence to keep them from organizing for better wages.Read More »