(2022, Algeria, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Taiwan, 110')
Algeria, 1516. The pirate Aroudj Barbarossa frees Algiers from the tyranny of the Spaniards and seizes power over the kingdom. The only person who stands up to him is Queen Zaphira. Between history and legend, epic and intimacy, the city is seen from an unusual point of view, that of a woman in a powerful position. The Queen’s deeds represent personal torment in a conflict endured for the sake of Algiers. All told in a full scale costume drama.
An actress, scriptwriter, and producer, she has worked with renowned Middle Eastern directors including Merzak Allouache and Georges Hachem. She won Best Arab Actress Award for her role in The Repentant (2012) and in 2011 she founded a production company, Taj Intaj, with the intention of promoting young Algerian talents.
An Algerian-French director. He studied cinema theory at Sorbonne University in Paris. His practical skills in filming are self taught. After his documentary Fidaï, which got many nominees, like the one at the Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival, he directed, Kindil El Bah, a short film produced by Taj Intaj that was screened at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2016.
