Dünya prömiyerini 72. Cannes Film Festivali’nin Belirli Bir Bakış bölümünde yapan Papicha, izleyicileri 1997 yılının Cezayir’ine götürüyor. Ülke, erkek egemen düzenin hakim olduğu bir İslam devleti kurmak isteyen teröristlerin elindedir. Bu teröristlerin zorbalıklarından en çok etkilenenlerin başında ise yaşamları, giyinme tarzları, bedenleri kontrol altında tutulan kadınlardır. Başı açık gezen kadınların bile cezalandırıldığı bu dönemde, genç bir moda tasarım öğrencisi olan Nedima, kampüsteki arkadaşlarını bir defile düzenlemeye ve tüm yasakları delmeye ikna eder. Papicha, daha önce belgesel filmlere imza atan Mounia Meddour’un ilk uzun metraj kurmaca filmi.

Papicha

Young Algerian journalist Nedjma is investigating Islamic accounts of paradise. She is particularly interested in the descriptions used by Salafi preachers to recruit young Algerian men as jihadists. She and her colleague Mustapha find a number of disturbing, richly embellished video sermons and decide to explore the phenomenon in more detail.

Investigating Paradise

Ahmed Malek’s name might have been forgotten by his fellow Algerians but his timeless tunes certainly haven’t. Called the Ennio Morricone of Algiers, he composed music for more than 200 movies, amongst which the most famous films of the Algerian New Wave in the 70s and the 80s can be found. Paloma Colombe, a DJ, digger and documentary director, went to Algiers to meet his daughter, friends and former coworkers. Images of the city by night offer a perfect background to Ahmed Malek’s music. Globetrotter, pioneer of electronic music and of the concept of the home studio, he created a unique sound that truly goes beyond genres and countries.

Planet Malek

Up bright and early with their pet in tow, Zohra Bouderbala and her five children are heading to the beach. This is not a drill! In Algiers, the coveted front row spot waits for no one, but it’s not this family’s first time having to beat the summer seaside crowds. The unmotivated and out-of-luck masses who arrive too late will be left to a viewless laze in the sun, the alleged horizon blocked by a fortress of parasols and flowing canopies.