Roqia, the first feature film by director Yanis Koussim, premiered at the 82nd Venice Film Festival during International Critics’ Week.
Produced by Supernova Films, the film takes place in 1992. Suffering from amnesia after a car crash, Ahmed returns to his village where nothing seems familiar, neither his wife nor his children. His youngest son, frightened by his father’s bandaged face, is deeply afraid of him. Every night, strange visitors whisper litanies in an unknown language. Who are they?
Yanis Koussim explains why he chose to set his film during the Dark Decade: “I grew up in Algeria during the bloody 1990’s, and the trauma and fear of that time still linger beneath the surface of everyday life. With Roqia, I use horror, rooted in realism and memory, as a tool to confront this past, preserve it, and ensure it is never forgotten.”
During the Venice Festival the French company Alpha Violet bought the film rights: “We were struck by the visceral representation of historical trauma through the excellent story-telling and haunting imagery,” said Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato, the company’s co-founders.
Sources: TSA, El Moudjahid, Alpha Violet
