Tahia Ya Didou
Mohamed Zinet
Along their walks and various encounters, Simon and his wife, French tourists in Alger, discover the city. In a cafe, Simon recognises an Algerian he once tortured as a soldier. The man stares at him and, panicked, Simon runs from the cafe. But the man at his table doesn't move: he is blind...
With : Himoud Brahimi, Mohamed Zinet, Suzie Nacer
Screenplay : Mohamed Zinet, Himoud Brahimi
Image : Ali Maroc
Dialogues : Himoud Brahimi
Music : Hadj M'hamed el-Anka
Screenplay : Mohamed Zinet, Himoud Brahimi
Image : Ali Maroc
Dialogues : Himoud Brahimi
Music : Hadj M'hamed el-Anka
Production : APC d'Alger
Already an actor at 9 years old, Mohamed Zinet was also an artist, playwright and poet before becoming a filmmaker. Founder of the TNA, or National Algerian Theatre, he learned the trade of filmmaker as assistant to Gillo Pontecorvo for The Battle of Algiers (1965). His first and only feature-length film, Viva Didou! began as a film for tourists commissioned by the city of Algiers to vaunt the charms of the capital. The film's author, director and actor, Mohamed Zinet transformed the film into something else. While he filmed a warm and friendly portrait of the Algerian capital in the 1970s, he also evoked the war of liberation and the suffering of Algerians. This artistic appropriation of the original commission condemned the film to remain unseen for many years. The recent discovery of a copy in Italy allows us to discover this since restored film.