Rachida

Rachida lives and teaches in an old and popular neighbourhood in Algeria. Like most of the people in Algeria, she thinks she far removed from the bloody conflict the country is in, until one day she is attacked by a terrorist group. Sofiane, one of her former students, belongs to this group. The group asks her to plant a bomb in her school. After refusing, they shoot her in cold blood. Miraculously, she is saved and seeks refuge in a neighbouring village.

From an interview with the Director:

You’ve worked for a long time as an editor. What moved you toward writing and directing?

Going into directing was like therapy for me. I lived in an atmosphere of fear and terror, I wanted to express it. It wasn’t about favouring my own fear, but working through the fear of others. It was then when I started to write a story. (...)

Your film is based on true facts.

The film is fictional based on violent situations from daily experiences. Nothing was invented. It is not intended to show the news, but tragedy. Actually, the young teacher who inspired Rachida’s character is dead. The bomb did explode.

It is one of Rachida’s former students who forces her to plant the bomb.

It actually happened. The terrorists slaughtered teachers. They attacked the schools (educational places for the young), the journalists, the information, and all of the knowledge centres. They distributed pamphlets to keep children away from the schools. I also wanted to show the weakness of the education system in Algeria, with its awful education programs full of hatred. As a mother, it horrifies me to have to send my child to school where he will be taught hate and intolerance.

You dedicated the film to your brother Mohamed, to Zakia Guessab, and all the others...

My brother is one of the many victims in Algeria. Zakia inspired me for the teacher’s character and then there are all the others...

(Extracted from an interview from the Internet site: filmsduparadoxe.com)

Yamina BACHIR-CHOUIKH was born in 1954 in Algeria. In 1973 she entered the National Centre of Algerian Cinema where she worked as a script-girl and editor in many documentary and fiction films. She collaborated, among others, with Abdelkader Lagda, Noureddine Mefti, Ahmed Rachedi and Mohamed Chouikh in "La Citadelle" (The Citadel) (1989) and "L’Arche du Désert" (The Arch of the Desert) (1997), as well as in "Le Cri des Hommes" (The Cry of the Men) by Okacha Touita (1991). "Rachida " is her first feature picture.

Production:

EXA Production
Maison de la Presse
1, rue Bachir Attar - 1er Mai
Alger (Algeria)
Telephone: +(213) 21 67 08 27
Fax: + (213) 21 67 90 40

CINE-SUD PROMOTION
Thierry Lenouvel
130, rue de Turenne
75003 Paris (France)
Telephone: + 33 (0)1 44 54 54 77
Fax: + 33 (0) 1 44 54 05 02
E-mail: cine-sud@noos.fr

Ciel Production (Alger)

Arte France Cinéma

With the participation of:
FONDS SUD CINEMA (Ministère des Affaires étrangères - Direction de l’audiovisuel extérieur et des techniques de communication) (Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Department of External Audiovisual and Techniques of Communication) and Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication - Centre National de la Cinématographie (France) (Ministry ofCulture and Communication - National Centre of Cinematography ) (France); ADC SUD (Ministère des Affaires étrangères - Direction de l’audiovisuel extérieur et des techniques de communication)(Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Department of External Audiovisual and Techniques of Communication); Canal + France; Fondation Gan; YLE TV1 Co-roductions; Bruges 2002 European Culture Capital; Cinéma Novo Film Festival; Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) -ABP/EZEF; FDATIC - Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication Algérien (Algerian Ministry of Culture and Communication); Henkel Enad; Festival de Film d’Amiens.

Distribution:
Films du Paradoxe
Jean-Jacques Varret
BP 47- 2bis rue Mertens
92270 Bois Colombes
Telephone: + 33 (0)1 46 49 33 33
Fax: + 33 (0) 1 46 49 33 23
E-mail: contact@filmsduparadoxe.com

Ventes Internationales
Films Distribution
6, rue de l’Ecole de Médecine
75006 Paris
Telephone: + 33 (0)1 53 10 33 99
Fax: + 33 (0) 1 53 10 33 98

Rights holders:
CINE-SUD Promotion

Festivals:
Official Selection - A Certain Look - Cannes 2002

Internet site of the motion picture:
www.filmsduparadoxe.com