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Algerian director Karim Moussaoui continues to make waves in the world of cinema with his latest feature film, “L’Effacement,” which has just been selected for a world premiere in the official competition of the 17th edition of the Angoulême Francophone Festival, organizers said.
Adapted from the eponymous novel by Samir Toumi, the film delves into the complex world of Réda, a young Algerian whose seemingly perfect life masks a deep malaise. “L’Effacement” tells the story of Réda, who lives in a posh neighborhood of Algiers and holds a position of responsibility in a hydrocarbon company run by his father. However, the sudden death of the patriarch turns Réda’s life upside down, revealing the cracks beneath the surface of his seemingly ideal life.
Classified as a Franco-German-Tunisian film, “L’Effacement” illustrates well the complexities of national categories in cinema. Although shot largely in Tunisia, the nationality of the film stems mainly from the international financing that made its production possible. Thus, in order to benefit from various financial supports, the film is presented as a co-production between France, Germany and Tunisia.
Karim Moussaoui, originally from Jijel and raised in Algiers, brings to the screen an Algerian story written by an Algerian author. The cast also includes Algerian talents such as Hamid Amirouche, Djalila Kadi-Hanifi and Chawki Amari, thus reinforcing the Algerian identity of the film.
Karim Moussaoui is the author of three short films Les jours d’avant, which received particular attention (selected at the Locarno, Clermont-Ferrand and Brive festivals, Grand Prix at the Premiers Plans d’Angers festival and nominated for a César in the Best Short Film category). His first feature film En attendant les hirondelles, whose screenplay, winner of the Gan Foundation 2016, was developed as part of the Cinéfondation residency at the Cannes Film Festival and the Ateliers d’Angers, was selected at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category.
He is also a founding member of the cultural association for the promotion of cinema Chrysalide in Algiers and was also responsible for cinema programming at the French Institute in Algiers for several years.
In 2020, he directed the short film Les Divas du Taguerabt for the 3rd Stage of the Paris Opera in which he questions what an opera would be in Algerian musical culture. This short film is part of the collective film Celles qui chantent.
The FFA, which will take place from August 27 to September 1, has been celebrating French-language cinema for 17 years now, whether in theaters or in public squares, films and their spectators invade the city of Valois, Angoulême, for this occasion. Thanks to the will and passion of their creators Marie-France Brière and Dominique Besnehard, the festival defends a popular and subtle cinema that excites professionals and amateurs alike, neophytes and cinephiles alike.