Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
Batna welcomes Vietnam, guest country of honor
IMEDGHASSEN festival
From September 10 to 16, the city of Batna will live to the rhythm of international cinema with the fifth edition of the Imedghassen festival. This year, the organizers have chosen to put Vietnam in the spotlight, offering Algerian moviegoers the opportunity to discover an unknown but an amazing wealth.
Long shaped by the wounds of history, the Vietnamese seventh art was built in the shadow of wars and struggles for freedom. The first great works, produced in the 1970s and 1980s, brought in them the collective memory of a people marked by pain and resilience. These films, often imbued with realism, associated intimate accounts and historical testimonies, creating a deeply original cinematographic identity.
Today, a new generation of directors is giving a breath and modernity to this heritage. The works of filmmakers such as Tran Anh Hung or Pham Thien An testify to this renewal: the first opened Vietnam to the international public by winning a reward in Cannes in 1993, while the second confirmed, in 2023, the vitality of a cinema that has lost nothing of its authenticity. Their sensitive and universal creations recall that Vietnamese cinema is not only memory, but also innovation and poetry.
The choice of Vietnam as a guest of honor particularly resonates with Algeria. The two nations share a story of struggles and resistance, a common desire to preserve the dignity of their people and a deep attachment to freedom. Beyond the screen, this invitation therefore illustrates a dialogue of memory and friendship between two countries linked by universal values.
For a week, the Algerian public will be able to browse this plural cinematography through a varied selection: films awarded at major festivals, essential classics, but also contemporary productions exploring current social realities. The projections will be accompanied by meetings with professionals, exchanges and debates, to allow a real immersion in this artistic universe.
The Imedghassen festival is not limited to a simple cinephile meeting. It is a meeting space, a place where cultures dialogue and where the stories of a people find an echo in the experience of another. By highlighting Vietnam, the event confirms its vocation as a cultural crossroads and gateway between different sensitivities.
In September, Batna will therefore not only be a capital of cinema in Algeria: it will become a point of convergence where the Vietnamese stories – imprints of pain, hope and humanity – will resonate with those of Algerian spectators. More than a festival, it is a celebration of art as a universal language.
RC