ALGERIA / A documentary web-series allows young Algerians to have their say

“Wesh derna ? – Maintenant on fait quoi ?” (Now what do we do?), directed by Riadh Touat, tries to reintroduce a bit of optimism into young Algerians’ view of their country.

Available on YouTube, this documentary web-series shows us what Algerians aged between 18 and 35 are thinking. Talking directly to Riadh Touat, a 31-year-old chemist and also a columnist on Algerian radio (Alger Chaîne 3), they express their views about Algeria today, their hopes, their regrets and their desire for change.

This is Riadh Touat’s first project as a director: “I don’t like pessimism, I don’t like people who complain or moan about their lives,” he explains. “I needed to do my own thing – communicating simply with my fellow citizens rather than staying in my comfort zone, criticizing what’s going wrong without doing anything about it. I wanted to give positive, enthusiastic young Algerians the chance to speak, simply, to bring a breath of fresh air at a time when the world is not going well, in the hope of provoking other people to think and discuss.”

So far only two episodes have been published since its launch on YouTube last January. The third should arrive shortly, since it was screened in preview on June 30th in the Cinémathèque Zinet of the Riadh El Feth cultural centre in El Madania, Algiers.

Totally self-produced, “Wesh derna?” is increasingly being talked about in the national media, and has even been singled out by the Ministry of Culture, which awarded it the 2017 Ali Maachi Young Designer Award in the “Cinematographic and Audiovisual Arts” category.

Click here to discover “Wesh derna ?” on YouTube, where you can also view the first two episodes, sub-titled in Arabic, French and English.

Sources: IntyMag, Le Temps d’Algérie