Feature film “Timgad” by French-Algerian Fabrice Benchaouche, a comedy on the return to the country of origin and its vagaries, received the special award of the 12th Geneva International Oriental Film Festival (Fifog), which wrapped up Sunday, announced the event’s organizers.
Competing in the category “feature film” with 35 other films, including “Maintenant ils peuvent venir” (Now they can come) by Algerian Salem Brahimi, “Timgad” was awarded for the “acting and originality of the script,” wrote the jury on the festival’s official website.
This 90-minute feature film, co-authored by Aziz Chouaki and Fabrice Banchaouche, is about the return of Djamel, an archaeologist, to the land of his ancestors to carry out excavations and about his meeting with the local population concerned about the fate of its football team, called “Juventus of Timgad,” in decline and in search of a coach to help it to qualify to an international tournament.
“Timgad” was co-produced by the Algerian Agency for Cultural Outreach (AARC) and production houses “BL.Films” and “Alia films.”