ONE MAN AND HIS COW / La Vache

 

West Coast Premiere • Comedy • France, 2016

DCP • 1.85 • Dolby • Color • 91 min

Directed by: Mohamed Hamidi

Written by: Mohamed Hamidi, Alain-Michel Blanc, Fatsah Bouyahmed

Cinematography: Elin Kirschfink

Film Editing: Marion Monnier

Original Score: Ibrahim Maalouf

Produced by: Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun (Yume - Quad Films), Jamel Debbouze (Kiss Films)

Cast: Fatsah Bouyahmed (Fatah), Lambert Wilson (Philippe), Jamel Debbouze (Hassan) 

International Sales: Pathe Distribution

 

If Hannibal could get an army of elephants across the Alps, how hard can it be to get one cow across France? Fatah, an Algerian farmer played by Franco-Algerian comic Fatsah Bouyahmed, is determined to find out in this cheerful, comedic road movie with a twist or two. When his beloved prize heifer, Jacqueline, is finally invited to compete at the prestigious Salon de l’Agriculture in Paris, Fatah has to figure out a way to get there. After some encouragement from his fellow villagers, Fatah rounds up his courage and leaves his home for the first time in his life. Crossing all of France on foot, you’re bound to have a few interesting encounters, and Jacqueline turns out to be a real conversation starter. Before Fatah knows it, he and his bovine BFF go viral, and even his wife and children are watching him milk his newfound fame on the village’s one communal TV. Which is unfortunate, because with all those cameras trained on him, it’s only a matter of time before something goes utterly wrong.

The journey to filmmaking for writer/director Mohamed Hamidi has been as full of twists as the protagonist of his film. While teaching economics in Bobigny, he got the opportunity to compose some music for Franco-Morroccan comedian Jamel Debbouze’s comedy club. Before long, Hamidi was collaborating full time, working as artistic director for the comedy festival Marrakech du Rire and even writing material for Debbouze’s stand-up shows. In 2013, Hamidi mounted his first feature, Homeland, about a young second-generation immigrant man going “home” to Algeria for the first time in his life. Both of his films feature Debbouze, who remains an important compass point in his career. Hamidi’s strength lays in his ability to transform the contradictions of modern life in Algeria into comedy. One Man and His Cow is a riff on Henri Verneuil’s 1959 The Cow and I, about a French POW who escapes Germany using a cow as a decoy. And that’s the straight story…

 

QUOTES:

“It’s easy to see the appeal of this gentle comedy with a funny, touching central performance from Bouyahmed.”

– Judith Prescott, French Cinema Review