مالك بن إسماعيل

Malek Bens­maïl was born in Cons­tan­tine, Alge­ria in 1966. Early in his youth, he shot films in Super 8. Since comple­ting his film studies in Paris and trai­ning at Lenfilm studios in Saint Peters­burg, he has devo­ted his film­ma­king efforts to the docu­men­tary genre. All of his films relate to the history of his coun­try.

His signa­ture cine­ma­to­gra­phy depicts the complex, sensi­tive contours of huma­nity. His aim is to use film as a medium for cultu­ral reflec­tion and compa­ri­son.

His films have recei­ved criti­cal acclaim and have won awards at a number of festi­vals world­wide.

In 2010, he is laureate of the Villa Kujuyama (Villa Méde­cis Asia) in Kyôto for his feature film project Odys­seys.

In 2020, Malek Bens­maïl is nomi­na­ted member of the Oscars Academy.

The Battle of Algiers, a film within History. In 2017, Malek signs a new feature-length docu­men­tary on Ponte­cor­vo’s film The Battle of Algiers, direc­ted in 1965, which won a Golden Lion in Venice in 1966. A return on this mythi­cal film with excep­tio­nal testi­mo­nies and archives. This film is distri­bu­ted by the Ameri­can company Jour­ney­films.

In 2015, Malek Bens­mail signed CONTRE-POUVOIRS (CHECKS & BALANCES). He set up his camera in the news­room of the famous daily paper El Watan, the spea­rhead of the Alge­rian inde­pendent press to film the proce­dures and thought processes behind jour­na­lism during the last presi­den­tial elec­tion.

In 2013, he direc­ted a movie and the instal­la­tion for Marseille capi­tale cultu­relle: ULYSSE, « the burner borders and the white middle sea ». The direc­tor Malek Bens­maïl has desi­gned a Ulysse today, a Ulysses « burner borders », went to meet his contem­po­ra­ries. This man « out of nowhere, at home everyw­here » is to listen to those he meets when docked in a port of Medi­ter­ra­neans.

Malek Bens­maïl direc­ted in 2012 SECRET WAR OF THE FLN IN FRANCE, a docu­men­tary for France 2 and RTBF.

In 2010, his latest feature-length docu­men­tary, CHINA IS STILL FAR, will be relea­sed in French and Euro­pean movie theatres. The film focuses on child­hood and know­ledge trans­fer in Alge­ria, 50 years after inde­pen­dence. It is a chro­nicle filmed throu­ghout the chan­ging seasons of a village, Aurès, the “cradle of the Alge­rian Revo­lu­tion”. The film is in line with his previous work and his memo­ries of the deco­lo­ni­za­tion that began over ten years earlier. This film won THE BEST DOCUMENTARY PRIZE IN 9TH DIGITAL FESTIVAL IN PARIS, THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE IN THE 3 CONTINENTS FESTIVAL IN NANTES, and BEST AWARD IN DOK FEST IN MUNICH.

As the summer of 2003 flies by, he directs an urgent film, ALIENATIONS, a film that pays homage to his father, a psychia­trist. By follo­wing doctors and patients at the psychia­tric service in Cons­tan­tine, where he was born, he modestly attempts to unders­tand the suffe­ring with which Alge­rians live, confron­ted by many ideas: reli­gious, poli­ti­cal, econo­mi­cal, and fami­lial. The film won many prizes, inclu­ding the “GRAND PRIX DES BIBLIOTHÈQUES” IN THE FESTIVAL DU CINÉMA DU RÉEL IN PARIS and THE MAGNOLIA AWARD FOR THE BET DOCUMENTARY AT THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF SHANGAÏ.

ALGERIA’S BLOODY YEARS, in 2002, is a long and passio­nate quest, led with Thierry Leclère, to docu­ment a bloody decade in Alge­ria, and filmed in two 80-minutes sections. It is shown in many places around the world and receives a number of prizes.

THE BATHS OF THIS FLOATING WORLD, is a film that seems like a neces­sary puri­fi­ca­tion after the violence of obses­si­vely ques­tio­ning human trage­dies in his previous work. This is where the idea of collec­tive and public bathing came from. It is a first encoun­ter with Japan, an idea and a compul­sion that he proposes for the Villa Kujoyama, Kyoto, for the year 2009.

In 1994, he directs TERRITORIE(S), a 30-minutes film based on a crea­tive montage combi­ning archi­val images, excerpts from propa­ganda films and fiction, and filmed images. The film is a very perso­nal look that over­laps a discourse that puts into pers­pec­tive the archaic violence in Alge­ria and the Arab world on the one hand, and the post-modern violence of the West on the other. THIS FILM WON “BEST DOCUMENTARY DISCOVERY” AT THE FESTIVAL OF NEW CINEMA IN MONTREAl.

In 1998, at the request of France Insti­tut Natio­nal de l’Au­dio­vi­suel and the network Arte, he co-directs a poli­ti­cal docu­men­tary, BOUDIAF, AN ASSASSINATED HOPE on the Alge­rian president who was assas­si­na­ted live on tele­vi­sion, six months after his return from a 30-years exile.

This film provides the mate­rial for a short fiction, DÊMOKRATIA, which shows on Arte in 2002. DÊMOKRATIA is a philo­so­phi­cal fable about the machi­nery of abso­lute power in an imagi­nary tota­li­ta­rian coun­try. The approach taken strictly was to main­tain a light oscil­la­ting between reality and fiction.

Again in 2001, he wins the “PRIX DU PATRIMOINE” AT THE FESTIVAL DU CINÉMA DU RÉEL IN PARIS for a docu­men­tary, DES VACANCES MALGRÉ TOUT (HOLIDAYS DESPITE ALL). Featu­ring an out-of-the-ordi­nary emigrant family, the film shows a diffi­cult encoun­ter between those who have emigra­ted and those who have remai­ned in their coun­try.