User:MarcelLaloutre/sandbox

Merzak Allouache began his studies in 1964 at the Institute for Cinema in Algiers. While there, he directed his graduation film, Croisement, as well as a short film, Le Voleur. When the Institute for Cinema closed, the students were redirected to Lodz or Paris. Allouache completed his studies at l’IDHEC (now called La Fémis) in Paris. Returning to Algeria, he was integrated for a few months at the Algerian News Office and then dismissed, along with his colleagues from the Institute for Cinema’s graduating class (the only graduating class) after a petition demanding a real integration and the possibility to make reports for the Office. To calm the protest, the group of alumni of the Institute for Cinema was sent to France for a three-month internship at the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF).

He stayed there for several years and enrolled at the École pratique des hautes études with Marc Ferro. He took the course "Analysis of 20th century film documents". He returned to Algeria in 1973 and worked on organizing CinéBus campaigns in support of the agrarian revolution. He directed a documentary film Nous et la révolution agraire (Us and the Agrarian Revolution). In 1974, he co-directed for the ONCIC Tipasa l'ancienne, a documentary on the site of Tipasa, in co-production with FR3 Marseille. Before joining ONCIC as a director in 1975, he was assistant director on Le Vent du Sud directed by Mohamed Slim Riad.

He gained international fame by directing his first feature film Omar Gatlato in 1976, which was selected at the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes and won a Silver Medal at the Moscow Film Festival. Then he directed Les Aventures d'un héros in 1978, Thanit d'or at the Carthage Film Festival and L'Homme qui regardait les fenêtres in 1982.

Then he left for France. He wrote a screenplay for TF1 Parlez après le signal sonore and, in 1987, directed a feature film Un amour à Paris, selected in the Perspectives of French Cinema section at the Cannes Film Festival for the Perspectives of French Cinema Prize.

He returned to Algeria in 1988 in the aftermath of the October riots. He filmed video documentaries on the political situation with many interviews that were gathered in three documentaries L'Après-Octobre, Femmes en mouvements, and Vie et mort des journalistes algériens for ARTE. In 1989, he directed a satirical program for Algerian television, La Boîte à chique, and then joined the National Audiovisual Council, a structure in charge of reforming cinematography when the Ministry of Culture was dissolved. In 1992, he directed a documentary for the BBC, Our War, Voice of Ramadan. In 1993, as Algeria sank into violence, he directed in extremis a feature film, Bab El-Oued City, selected in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.

He was forced to leave for France once again. In 1996, he directed Salut Cousin, selected in the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, Thanit d'or at the Carthage Film Festival, and then a series of films and TV movies before returning to Algeria in 1999.

Since 2000, he has alternated his productions or co-productions between Algeria and France where he lives. In 2003, he directed Chouchou which had 4 million viewers in France, and in 2012 he directed Le repenti selected at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2013 Les terrasses was selected at the Venice Film Festival, in 2015 Madame courage was selected at the Venice Film Festival, in 2016 a documentary fiction Enquête au paradis was selected at the FIPA in Biarritz (Fipa d'or) at the Berlin Film Festival, and in 2017 Vent divin was selected at the Toronto Film Festival.