Mounia Meddour : 2019

Algiers, 1997. The country is in the hands of terrorist groups, seeking to establish an Islamic and archaic state. Women are particularly affected and oppressed by primitive dicta, that seek to take control of their bodies and control their passage through the public space. Nedjma, an 18-year-old student passionate about fashion design refuses to let the tragic events of the Algerian Civil War to keep her from experiencing a normal life and going out at night with her friend Wassila. As the social climate becomes more conservative, she rejects the new bans set by the radicals and decides to fight for her freedom and independence by putting on a fashion show. Mounia Meddour's feature debut premiered in competition in the Un Certain Regard section at Festival de Cannes 2019.

David Oelhoffen : 2014
Far from Men

Algeria, 1954. While the rebellion rumbles in the valley, two very different men thrown together by a world in turmoil, are forced to flee together across the Atlas mountains. In the midst of an icy winter, Daru, the reclusive teacher, has to escort Mohamed, a villager accused of murder. Pursued by horsemen seeking summary justice and vengeful settlers, the two men decide to confront the unknown. Together, they fight to gain their freedom. In a land of colonisers and the colonised, a collision between two systems of law, two cultures and two moralities forced into coexistence by history. The story focuses on the exploration of the two characters, the relationship that develops between them and their moral motivations. David Oelhoffen's feature was the winner of numerous awards when it premiered at Venice International Film Festival 2014.

Pedro Pérez Rosado : 2012
Tears of Sand

Fatimetu was born to a Sahrawi family in a Saharan refugee camp in Algeria but at the age of ten was sent to live with foster parents in Spain. Following the death of her mother she returns to the camp after sixteen years. Her brother, Jatri, now expects her to stay and look after her sister Hayat, who teaches mentally disabled children, and who herself has a physical disability. Though Fatimetu had different plans, namely a boyfriend back home, the relationship seems to not really be working out. Unlike the other women, Fatimetu can drive and finds work transporting animals, meat and bread from one administrative district to another with Hayat in tow. In time, the Sahrawi people become accustomed to the woman who tears about the desert without a hijab in her beaten up jeep. But Fatimetu is torn between life in the desert and her memories of her family and friends in Spain.