Acclaimed for his short film Mon frère (in competition at Locarno in 2010 and Clermont-Ferrand in 2011) and his documentary Algiers by Night [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] (2018), Algerian filmmaker Yanis Koussim will unveil his first feature film at the 40th International Film Critics' Week, which will take place as part of the 82nd Venice Film Festival (27 August to 6 September).

The cast includes Ali Namous (who gave a fine performance last year in Algiers), Akram Djeghim (seen in The Rooftops [+leggi anche:
trailer
intervista: Merzak Allouache
scheda film]), Mostefa Djadjam (recently acclaimed in Six Feet Over [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film]), Hanaa Mansour (Front Row [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film]) and Lydia Hanni.

Written by the director, the screenplay unfolds in two time periods. In 1993, after a car crash leaves Ahmed amnesiac, he returns to his village, where nothing feels familiar—not his wife, not his children. His youngest, frightened by Ahmed’s bandaged face, fears him deeply. Each night, strange visitors whisper litanies in an unknown tongue. Who are they? Why does his neighbour unsettle him? In the present, an aging Raqi battles Alzheimer’s. His disciple grows worried. As possessed people speak in foreign tongues and violence rises, Ahmed fears regaining memory—while the disciple fears his master’s decline may unleash an ancient evil…

Beatrice Fiorentino, Artistic Director of SIC, says, "Like an exorcism, the film investigates trauma, memory, and fear, reflecting on the fragmented identity of the Arab World. A ritual of collective catharsis unveils the fracture separating faith from violence, spirituality from terror.The horror genre becomes a space of tension,of removal, of confontation between generations."

Produced by Farès Ladjimi for French company Supernova Films and co-produced by Algerian company 19, Mulholland Drive, Roqia received support from Doha Film Institute, the Red Sea Fund, the CNC’s Aide aux Cinémas du Monde, the Sud region, the Algerian Ministry of Culture and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC). Jean-Marie Delorme (the filmmaker's loyal collaborator) was director of photography. The rights for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were acquired by Film Clinic based on the script, and international sales are being handled by Alpha Violet.

For the record, Supernova Films was already featured at last year's International Film Critics' Week with Perfumed with Mint [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Muhammed Hamdy
scheda film] by Muhammed Hamdy and headlining the 2022 Directors’ Fortnight with Ashkal [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] by Youssef Chebbi.