At the 32nd edition of the Carthage Film Festival, the Algerian film Argu beat eleven other films to be awarded the African Film Critics Prize - Prix de la FACC sponsored by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra. The film is directed by Omar Belkacemi and it is his first feature film with its African debut in Tunis, after its World Premiere in Montpellier (2021 Cinemed).

Argu ("Dream, in Kabylian/Taqbaylit language) tells the story of Koukou, a twenty-year-old man who is very different from his peers. He lives with his siblings, Mahmoud and Jura, and his mother in the high mountains of Kabylia. Koukou goes about every day of his life being free, very bohemian and unapologetically himself, and this behaviour and outlook are perceived as strange by village elders. Together with the support of Koukou's father, they decide to put him in a mental asylum. However, Mahmoud, disillusioned by his brother's love story, leads a fight to convince everyone of his innocence. His effort is futile as it ends up driving Koukou away from the village.



The first thing that greets you about Argu is the breathtaking view of Kabylia, intentionally captured as a wonderful ode to Koukou's free-spirited personality. Various panoramic scenes depict the tender and affectionate nature of Koukou dreaming of a better future and a lot of them are captured with his brother, Mahmoud. In some type of way, the film could also be looked at from the contrasting lens of a beautiful city caught in the throes of contempt, obsolete traditions and injustice.

Outside the breathtaking cinematography, there is a heavy influence of culture and tradition as depicted through the sparkling colours of the Berber women, their songs and the dance in the film. It all plays into the love story to the village leading to a larger picture, as told through the eyes of two brothers. There is a visible love and admiration for Kabylia and Belkacemi makes use of symbolism to accurately pass the message across.

Argu spends most of its ninety-seven minutes of run time convincing its viewers that beneath the beauty, there's a lot of mess. It succeeds, moving through drama and documentary styles and doing a dive into the state of things.

by Franklin Ugobude