I got a tantalising glimpse of Algerian cinema at Heriot Watt's where the French Media Research group was hosting a conference on 'Media, memory and nostalgia'.
One paper was on Mohammed Chouikh's film of 1993, called Youcef ou la légende du septième dormant. According to Sophie Bolot, the story of a political prisoner who wakes from his amnesia to discover that the Algerian revolution has happened, is based on Plato's legend of the cave. Inside the cave, the shadows that he watches are Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers and he tries to untangle the many cultural references and edited memories - images present the past so vividly , but can they ever be true?
One paper was on Mohammed Chouikh's film of 1993, called Youcef ou la légende du septième dormant. According to Sophie Bolot, the story of a political prisoner who wakes from his amnesia to discover that the Algerian revolution has happened, is based on Plato's legend of the cave. Inside the cave, the shadows that he watches are Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers and he tries to untangle the many cultural references and edited memories - images present the past so vividly , but can they ever be true?