Dir: Yann Demange | Cast: Riz Ahmed, Souheila Yacoub, Yousfi Henine | Isabelle Adjani, Sandor Funtek | France, 16′
A woozy reflection on the nature of belonging starring Riz Ahmed as a disenfranchised man of Algerian heritage searching for his roots but never quite finding them in a nocturnal Paris. Returning here, he glides through memories of his past and surreal fragments of the present, searching for connection with his estranged Algerian born father.
Director Yann Mounir Démange, also of Algerian/French parenthood, came to fame through his breakout TV series Top Boy. With an Algerian father and French mother he understands the territory and what it means to feel like a boat swirling in the high seas looking for a safe birth – and the man will find one but it will be with a person rather than a country in this cinematic reverie… Behind Paris is Algiers. MT
LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL | 2-12 AUGUST | PIAZZA GRANDE OPENING FILM