Lina's grandparents have decided to separate. Together, they came from Algeria to Thiers, in the middle of France, over 60 years ago. Side by side, they had experienced this chaotic immigrant life. For Lina, their separation is an opportunity to question their long journey of exile, as well as her identity.

Lina's grandparents, Aïcha and Mabrouk, have decided to separate. They have moved out of their shared apartment to live in two buildings facing each other, still in the small town of Thiers where they moved in together on their arrival from Algeria, over 60 years ago. However, Aïcha continues to prepare food for Mabrouk and to bring him his meals every day. As for Mabrouk, he continues his solitary and silent walks at the shopping centre. Together, they had experienced this chaotic immigrant worker life and today the strength they had shared for so long seems to have disappeared. Their granddaughter wonders: why has no one been able to explain the meaning of this separation to her? Why does she not know their history well enough? Would that enable her to understand their turmoil today? Their Algeria is a family film in which the strength of character of each of the protagonists contains a story that is bigger than this separation: the difficult story of the Maghrebin families who arrived in France at the end of the 1950s and have never succeeded in reconstructing a new life since.

A film by Lina SOUALEM

France / Algeria / Switzerland / Qatar, 2020, Documentary, 1h12 mn, VOSTF

Original title: "Their Algeria"
English title: "Their Algeria"
Country: France / Algeria
Year of production
2020
Duration: 1 h 12 min (72 mins)
Category: Documentary
Version: VOSTF
Tags: Woman Director, Migration, African feature film, History, memory, Love, Grandparents, Divorce, Family, Europe.

Producer: Marie Balducchi

Director: Lina Soualem
ScreenWriter: Lina Soualem
DoP: Lina Soualem
Sound: Lina Soualem
Music: Julie Tribou, Rémi Durel
Editing: Gladys Joujou
Artistic collaboration: Gladys Joujou
Sound design: Julie Tribou, Rémi Durel
Color grading: Christophe Bousquet

Production:
Agat films & Company (Paris)

Co-production:
Making of Films (Algeria),
Akka Films (Switzerland) /// www.akkafilms.ch/leur-algerie/
Doha Film Institute (Qatar),
Al Jazeera Documentary Channel

DISTRIBUTION (France)
JHR Movies

World Sales:
Lightdox /// Sweet Spot Docs

CONTACT
JHR Movies
9 rue des Cascades - 75020 Paris
T: 09 50 45 03 62
Mail: info(@)jhrfilms.com
Website: www.jhrfilms.com

Sales contact:
Anna Berthollet (Sweet Spot Docs)
anna(@)sweetspotdocs.com
Phone. +33620653303

Lina Soualem: linasoualem(@)gmail.com


FESTIVALS / SCREENINGS / SCREENING (selection)
Festival Visions du Réel, Nyon, Latitudes, 2020 (Switzerland)
Cinémed, Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier, 2020 (France)
IDFA, International Documentary Filmfestival of Amsterdam, 2020 (Netherlands)
El Gouna Film Festival 2020 (Egypt)
DOK. Leipzig, 2020 (Germany)
Les Écrans Documentaires Festival, 2020 (France)
Ajyal Film Festival, Doha Film Institute, 2020 (Qatar)
Angoulême Francophone Film Festival 2021 (France)
FCAPA - African Film Festival of the APT Country 2021 (France)

FESTIVALS / AWARDS (selection)

2021 | African Film Festival of the APT Country - FCAPA 2021 (Apt, France)
* Selected
- SCREENING: on Saturday August 28, at 6.30 p.m., at the Cinema Le César, in Apt. Filmmaker in attendance.
- www.cinemalecesar.fr/reserver/
- www.africapt-festival.fr/2021/08/01/projection-leur-algerie/

2021 | Angoulême Francophone Film Festival (Angoulême, France)
* Selected

2020 | El Gouna Festival (El Gouna, Egypt)
* Prize for the best Arabic documentary

2020 | Montpellier International Mediterranean Film Festival - Cinémed 2021 (Montpellier, France)
* Student award for the first CCU - Crous work, 2020
- SCREENING: THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER 2020, 09:00, at CORUM -EINSTEIN Film Room. Filmmaker LINA SOUALEM, in attendance
- SCREENING: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020, 5:00 p.m., at CORUM - EINSTEIN Film Room. Filmmaker LINA SOUALEM, in attendance
www.cinemed.tm.fr/film/leur-algerie

2020 | Visions du Réel Festival 2020 (Nyon, Switzerland)
* World premiere
* Selection: Latitudes, 2020