“Omar Lavraz” is the title of the latest film by the Franco-Algerian actor Reda Kateb, which will be Algeria’s window on the 76th session of the “Cannes” festival, through many stories that were filmed in the country with the lens of the camera of director Elias Belkader.
The film considers the long fictional experience of Elias Belkader, and co-starring Algerian actress Maryam Amyar and French actor Benoit Magimel, in addition to many Algerian faces who have this first opportunity in their artistic path.
For the film’s hero, Reda Kateb, who embodies the role of Omar, nicknamed “Lavraz”, it was an important opportunity that brought together actors of Algerian origin with local Algerian actors in an interesting and different work.
In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Kateb said, “We worked together for three months of filming in the streets and neighborhoods of Algeria and even the desert.”
He added, “This experience resulted in a work that constitutes a window for Algeria to the world.”
He continued, “The film presents simple stories and tales that live in the shadows between popular neighborhoods and the walls of ancient cities.”
The film tells the story of a young man named Omar, of Algerian origin, who had a dark past in Paris, and decides to return to Algeria after he was sentenced to prison.
By moving to Algeria, the story turns into something like humor and satirical drama.
A writer expects that the film will find great resonance when it is shown in cinemas in France, which has more than 6 million French people of Algerian origin.
A writer pointed out, “Such stories are the link between the two shores of the Mediterranean. We have tried to get closer to those details that everyone who lives in exile longs for.”
During his experience in “Omar Lavraz”, a writer noted the courage of Algerian artists and technicians, their experience and knowledge of the simplest details of the profession, pointing out that what they lack is only financial support.
Sensation of the son of the immigrant
In addition to French nationality, Kateb has Algerian nationality, as he expressed his feelings as the grandson of the son of an Algerian immigrant, saying: “No matter where we come from, we can take our place in the field in which we excel.”
About his life in France, Kateb said: “My father, the Algerian playwright Malek Eddine Kateb, immigrated in the past to France to work, and my role today is to consolidate that relationship between Algeria and France.”
A writer stressed that “France is the country in which I grew up and spoke its language, and I took my first steps in life, and this is the case for millions of people in the community. This duality seems tiring, especially in adolescence, but today perhaps I am lucky, and I have succeeded in achieving a professional path.” Good, I feel more proud.”
