Bouchareb launches into Outside the Law

by Fabien Lemercier

23/07/2009 - Final preparations are underway before shooting starts in Algeria at the end of July on Rachid Bouchareb’s Outside the Law.

The director has reunited with four of the five stars of Days of Glory [trailer, film focus] (3.1m admissions in France in 2006, collective Best Actor Award at Cannes, nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar): Djamel Debbouze, Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem and Bernard Blancan. The cast also includes Ahmed Benaïssa, Larbi Zekkal, Chafia Boudraa and Mourad Khen.

Co-written by Bouchareb and his usual collaborator Olivier Lorelle, Outside the Law is set between 1945 and 1962 and traces the life of three brothers whose family has been driven off its land and survived the Sétif massacres.

They end up in France, where two of the brothers campaign for Algerian independence, while the third looks on, uncomprehending. The Battle of Paris, which brings the FLN (National Liberation Front) into conflict with the French police, crushes and divides them.

A page torn from history, the film also looks at the Indochine War and the events of October 17, 1961 in Paris, when the police orchestrated a bloody suppression of a demonstration against the curfew imposed on Algerian workers in the French capital.

Outside the Law is produced by Tessalit Productions for €19.5m. This includes co-production support from France 2 Cinéma and France 3 Cinéma, an advance on receipts from the National Film Centre (CNC), pre-sales from Canal + and co-production backing from Algeria and Belgium (Novak Productions).

The five-month shoot will take place in Algeria, Tunisia, France (in Paris at the end of August), Belgium (Charleroi and Brussels in early September), Germany and the US (with scenes at the United Nations headquarters). Studio Canal will handle French distribution and international sales.

Bouchareb’s latest film, London River [trailer], which won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlinale 2009, where it screened in competition, will be released in French theatres on September 23, after an appearance at the Toronto Film Festival.

(Translated from French)