[CANCELED]

Hassen Ferhani was born in Algiers in 1986. In 2006, he directed his first film Les Baies d’Alger. He took part in l’Université d’été at La Fémis and co-directed Afric Hotel (2011). Later on, he made Tarzan, Don Quichotte et nous (2013), which was presented at Visions du Réel, FIDMarseille and Locarno, and which had already reflected his interest in documentary bordering on fiction. Roundabout in My Head (2015), shot in slaugtherhouses in Algiers, was his first feature. In 2015 he was awarded a McMillan-Stewart Fellowship in Distinguished Filmmaking from the Film Study Center.

143 rue du désert (2019)
104 min.

Previously, a slaughterhouse opened up the heart of Algiers to the world (Roundabout in My Head, 2015). Now, the manager of a small shop in the Sahara offers a place of peace − though maybe not an oasis, what with the sand wiping out even the colors in this documentary Western. A closed off chamber, an observation spot or a theater stage: such is the versatility of a filmmaking device that Ferhani – and therein lies his talent − never seems to be satisfied with, always being ready to embrace the unexpected. – Antoine Thirion, Locarno Film Festival, Concorso Cineasti del presente