THE ROOFTOPS /
Les Terrasses / Es-Stouh        

 

North American Premiere • Drama • France, Algeria, 2014

DCP • 1.85 • Digital • Color • 92 min

 

Directed by: Merzak Allouache

Written by: Merzak Allouache

Cinematography: Frédéric Derrien

Film Editing: Sylvie Gadmer

Produced by: Jacques Bidou & Marianne Dumoulin (JBA Productions), Merzak Allouache (Baya Films)

Cast: Nassima Belmihoub, Hacène Benzerari, Adila Bendimerad, Aïssa Chouat, Mourad Khen, Myriam Ait El Hadj, Akhram Djeghim, Amal Kateb

International Sales: Elle Driver • elledriver.fr

 

Set against sea and sky, the distant rooftops of Algiers are a picture of beauty and serenity, but a closer look reveals a world simmering with contradictions, chaos, and corruption. In a single day, five cleverly linked stories take place on these historic rooftops, which have been colonized by the city’s undesirables. Recalling Short Cuts from filmmaker Robert Altman, the stories are united by the five daily calls to prayer echoing over the city from loudspeakers. From squatters and lowlifes to bigoted film directors and radical singers, a tapestry of contemporary Algeria is woven together. On one rooftop, a man is waterboarded by thugs, but he is no terrorist. On another rooftop, a madman kept in chains raves to a young girl about the heroic War of Independence. Later he is simply covered when the space is needed for those seeking a new kind of war. The Rooftops may occasionally despair at its subject, but with its vitality and its rhythms, it never loses hope, or its sense of humor.

 

Algeria’s preeminent filmmaker, writer/director Merzak Allouache grew up in Algiers during its struggle for independence. After studying film in Paris he made his first feature, Omar Gatlato (1976). The film opened the floodgates for a new kind of cinema in North Africa, with a new complexity of subject and character, dealing with the realities of contemporary society. Over a thirty-year career, Allouache has made films exploring the cultural contradictions of a country caught between its Algerian roots and its French influences, always with his trademark warmth, humanity and humor. In 1994, civil war was brewing, and Allouche captured the zeitgeist in Bab El-Oued City, winning the Critic’s Prize in Cannes along the way. In 1996, his Salut cousin!, co-written with Caroline Thivel, was a Best Foreign Language Film submission for the 69^th Academy Awards. The Rooftops was nominated for a Golden Lion at the 2013 Venice Film Festival.

 

 “Allouache has earned the right to tackle multiple stories, proving he can juggle them all in a manner that satisfies each point and every character.”

- Jay Weissberg VARIETY

 

“Allouache's conceit holds and the stories he tells are diverse and rich (…). The ensemble cast are superb, but it's Algiers itself which is perhaps the central character of The Rooftops.” 

- John Bleasdale London Film Festival