El Oued, El Oued

"L’Oued (The River) is conceived as a wondering walk, a trip along an Algerian river named Sidi El Kebir, located in the North-Centre of the country, at the very heart of the main activities of the Algerian state. The water stream runs quickly but naturally towards the stakes represented by the characters, the locations, the histories, the tales and legends encountered all along the trip. This river water and water in general is an historical, human and political vector. It represents one of the major stakes in the current environmental issue. Water is a political matter; this movie is also political since it is a cinematographic gesture that is also the expression of the pleasure to meet the other and to belong to the world. The plot is told through the action of walking, always forward, seeking an Algerian “elsewhere” that escapes me."
(Franssou Prenant)