Synopsis
Algeria region of the high flatlands. As Islamist groups continue to spread terror, Rashid, a young Jihadist, leaves the mountains to return to his village. In keeping with the law “of pardon and national harmony”, he has to surrender to the police and give up his weapon. He thus receives amnesty and becomes a “repenti”. But the law cannot erase his crimes and for Rashid it is the beginning of a one-way journey of violence, secrets and manipulation.
Filmmaker
Merzak Allouache
Bab el Oued, 1944. He studied filmmaking in Algiers and finished his studies at the IDHEC film school in Paris. In 1976, he directed his first feature film Omar Gatlato. He lived in France again from 1983 to 1988, and then returned to Algeria, there directing Bab el Oued City in 1993. The violent events that then shook Algeria once more forced him to leave, and he has settled in Paris to this day, though directing films both in France and in Algeria.
Filmography: The Repentant (2012), Harragas (2009), Normal! (2011), Bad el web (2005), Chouchou (2003), L’Autre Monde (2001), Hola, primo (1996), Lumière y compañía (ep.) (1995), Bab el Qued City (1994), L’après-octubre (doc.) (1989), Un amour à Paris (1987), L’homme qui regardait les fenêtres (1986), Mughamarat batal (1979), Omar Gatlato (1977)
