our catalogue

Amsevrid  [ The Outlandish ]

Feature film by Tahar Kessi

Synopsis

In the heart of Algeria, we follow three characters: in the present day, Boubekeur, a solitary and silent traveller wandering from one encounter to another; in 1996, during the years of terror and counter-terrorism, “Le Bleu”, an archivist deciphering the mysteries of a trafficking operation orchestrated by a mysterious man known as “S.K”; and finally Seddik Kelkan, also known as “Saïd the Fainter” or “the Red”, a character outside time, struggling with inner ghosts and with the archives that nourish the different quests.

With every step, fragments of memory, resistance and everyday life are revealed. A temporality formed by the harshest years, when chimera and reality became one. Blending unseen archives with encounters shaped like an investigation, the film carries us between reality and mirage. It offers a unique fresco of Algeria, where past and present intertwine to render a history of the sensible, a multiple reality and a collective becoming.

Technical Sheet

International title: The Outlandish
French title: Noésie
Kabyle title: Amsebrid
Arabic title: الغريب
Title transcribed in Tifinagh: ⴰⵎⵙⴻⴱⵔⵉⴷ
Duration: 118 min
Directed by: Tahar Kessi
Screenplay: Tahar Kessi

Cast: Bhar Bensalem, Boubekeur Bachir, Djamil Beloucif, Abdenour Aoudia, Ouiza Kerrouche, Houria Babou, Djohra Boukella, Baya Kerrouche, Ourida Kessi, Samia Boukella, Ouardia Bellabas, Zahoua Messaoudène, Zahoua Saït, Nouara Kessi, Khellaf Younsi, Brahim Boukellal, Houas Boukella, Abdallah Hameg, Lahlou Akli, Omar Amroun, Mohand Hammache, Boubekeur Rachedi, Chafik Hameg, Loucif Rachedi, Younes Hameg, Seddiq Boukella, Saïd Rachedi, Lahlou Hammoudi, Lyes Kaci, Sonia Kessi, El-Yazid Kessi
Production: Les Ménines
Produced by: Soukaina Sentissi, Tahar Kessi
Countries of production: Algeria, France, Qatar
Cinematography: Tahar Kessi
Editing: Pierre Agoutin
Other editings : Caroline Beuret, Tahar Kessi
Sound recording: Yacine Hirèche, Houcine Haddouche
Music: Various
Colour grading: Pierre Agoutin
Mixing: Zaki Allal
Screenings and festivals: FIDMarseille — 2024, Official Selection; États généraux du film documentaire — Lussas, 2025, Official Selection in two categories; Regards Satellites — 2024, Official Selection; AFLAM — 2025; Festival des Cinémas d’Afrique du Pays d’Apt — FCAPA, 2025, Official Selection; Visions du Réel Market 2024; FCATLab 2022; Doha Film Institute 2020; Médimed Barcelona 2021.

Awards: Grand Prize for Best First Feature — Prix Premier, FIDMarseille 2024.

Fragmentos Sonoros I, II, et III

Sound creation by Soukaina Sentissi, Nora Daoud and Tahar Kessi

Hystereris

Short film by Tahar Kessi

Synopsis

A man remembers a woman he once knew. Or whom he may yet come to know. A woman remembers a man she once knew, whom she may yet come to know. Two worlds, a beginning, a bond, a hope. A turtle, flypaper, time.

Technical sheet

International title: Hysteresis
French title: Hystéresis
Kabyle title: Ahat
Arabic title: بلاك
Title transcribed in Tifinagh: ⴰⵀⴰⵜ

Duration: 15 min 33 sec

Directed by: Tahar Kessi
Screenplay: Tahar Kessi
Cast: Ahmed Benaissa, Adila Bendimerad, Karim Loualiche, TK

Production: Les Ménines
Produced by: Tahar Kessi
Co-production: Cinéma Mémoire, Tissist
Co-produced by: Habiba Djahnine, Said Mehdaoui, Tissist

Cinematography: Tarek Sami
Sound recording: Lucie Dèche
Editing: Abdelghani Raoui
Music: Tahar Kessi
Colour grading: John Doe
Mixing: Liza Bystrova

Screenings and festivals: Rencontres Documentaires de Béjaïa — BéjaïaDoc, 2011; Le Jour le Plus Court — CNC, 2011.

Ahmed Benaissa in Hysteresis (2011)

©Les Ménines

Wind Sowers [ Aḍu ]

Short film by Tahar Kessi

Synopsis
Amar Mekhaissi, a painter, tries to recover the memory of colours after returning from military service with one arm amputated.

Technical sheet

International title: Wind Sowers

French title: À la merci du vent
Kabyle title: Aḍu
Arabic title: الريح
Title transcribed in Tifinagh: ⴰⴹⵓ
Duration: 8 min
Directed by: Tahar Kessi
Screenplay: Tahar Kessi

Cast: Hassib Boukellal, M’henni Amroun, Lahlou Akli, Hakim Azouani, Massina Larbi

Production: Les Ménines
Produced by: Tahar Kessi
Cinematography: Rabie Benmokhtar
Sound recording: Smaïl Slimani
Editing: Omar Rachedi, Tahar Kessi
Music: Tahar Kessi
Colour grading: John Doe, Ella Ghaleb
Mixing: Lahlou H.

Screenings and festivals: RCB 2009 — rough-cut screening; FIFF Namur 2011.

©Les Ménines

Investigation into Colour

Sound creation

Synopsis

For more than two and a half years, we lived in Marseille’s 3rd and 15th arrondissements, where every day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., we developed practices of speech, writing, walking and discussion, especially with children and their parents. They discuss curious things: colour, an idea, the image, existing, walking, drawing, holding on… We restored some of these practices in the form of interviews.

Linguistic Investigations with Mr Sow

Sound creation

Synopsis

For more than two and a half years, we lived in Marseille’s 3rd and 15th arrondissements, where every day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., we developed practices of speech, writing, walking and discussion, especially with children and their parents. They discuss curious things: colour, an idea, the image, existing, walking, drawing, holding on… We restored some of these practices in the form of interviews.

we work with / producing

Iván Castiñeiras

Director, DoP, Screenwriter, Producer

Tahar Kessi

Director, DoP, Editor, Screenwriter, Producer

Franssou Prenant

Director, Editor, Cinematographer, Screenwriter

Thomas Gosselin

Comic-book Author, Illustrator, Screenwriter

Mohamed Lakhdar Tati

Réalisateur

Their profiles, links to their works, archives ...

Pierre Agoutin

Chief Editor, Director

Will be updated soon ...

Kamel Khélif

Painter, Writer, Comic-book Author, Poet

Sonia Kessi

Director, Photographer

Nora Daoud

Photographer