Malek Bensmaïl — Director (2)
The Arab (2026) [Movie] Douban IMDb
l'Arabe
other title: l'Arabe / l’Arabe
Haroun is an old bachelor who has lived in Oran for several years. A retired civil servant, he leads a reclusive life until the day he meets Kamel in a bar—a journalist to whom he tells an incredible story dating back to 1942. He claims to be the brother of ‘the Arab’ killed in a story told in one of the most famous novels of the 20th century, ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus. An Arab with an erased name: Moussa. Through anger, assertions, details, and confidences, Haroun finally convinces the journalist to listen to his story. His confession is a cry of freedom and distress—but above all, a cry of revolt: against an abusive mother, against a country that failed to achieve true independence, against a book, and against a famous French writer.
Checks and Balances (2015) [Movie] Douban
Checks and Balances
director: Malek Bensmaïl
other title: 新闻不死 / 新闻不死(台)
Accommodated since Algeria's Bloody Decade of the 1990s in the 'House of the Press', the journalists of the famous daily newspaper El Watan await the completion of their new offices, a symbol of their independence. My camera is embedded in their newsroom as they follow the events of this new Algerian spring... President Bouteflika has set his sights on a 4th term. Beyond what we call the Arab revolutions and other mediatized terms, I wanted this film to serve as a memorial to the women and men, young and less young, who battle daily to safeguard the freedom of information in a politically and socially fossilized country.
這部紀錄片的導演馬列克‧班斯麥爾(Malek Bensmaïl)深入《祖國報》的編輯室內部,難得地記錄下報社的日常工作狀況,這是以往以新聞媒體為主題的紀錄片很少捕捉到的畫面。從中我們看到了記者、編輯、主管等多方之間的不斷討論和辯論,從政治立場、意識形態、用詞遣字、報導方式、下標、圖片⋯⋯皆可爭論,展現出一個充滿活力和使命熱誠的新聞媒體的內部運作動態。