Algerian Director Merzak Allouache on His Latest Pic ‘Front Row’ and Challenges Faced by Algerian Filmmakers
variety.comMartin Dale Contributor Algerian director Merzak Allouache received the Variety International Vanguard Director Award at the Red Sea Film Festival over the weekend, prior to the premiere of his social comedy, “Front Row,” about a feud between matriarchs vying for the best spot at the beach.
Allouache is Algeria’s best-known director, with a career spanning six decades and around 40 feature films that began with “Omar Gatlato” in 1976.
His penetrating vision, which blends social drama and comedy, has earned him considerable critical acclaim, including for 2012 Cannes-player “The Repentant,” “The Rooftops,” which premiered in Venice in 2013, and “Divine Wind” (2018).
The helmer talked with Variety about some of the highlights of his career, which followed in the footsteps of local filmmakers who profiled the independence of Algeria in the 1960s.
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