The Arab
Cast
- M'ma
- Abbas Hiam
- Haroun
- Benaissa Ahmed
- Kamel
- Asli Nabil
- Young Haroun
- Benssalah Dali
- Meriem
- Ben Ismail Amina
- JOSEPH
- Thiery Raphael
- M. LARQUAIS
- Monsaitgeon Grégoire
- MOUSSA
- Derris Brahim
- MS LARQUAIS
- Cosserat Stepahie
The Arab
Bensmail Malek
- Fiction
- Production Country / Year
- Algeria 2026
- Language
- ar., frz., span. OF m. engl., frz. UT
- Format
- DCP, Color, 106min
1.85:1, Discrete 5.1
12
Ages 12 and older
Director & Crew
Bensmail Malek
Born in Constantine in 1966, Malek Bensmaïl is
an Algerian filmmaker whose work powerfully
explores the intersections of memory, history,
and politics.
Trained in cinema in Paris and Saint Petersburg,
he has been developing since the 1990s a
demanding body of work, grounded in reality yet
open to the world. His films — Aliénations,
China Is Still Far Away, Checks and
Balances, and The Battle of Algiers, a Film
Within History — offer a lucid and sensitive
portrait of contemporary Algeria, caught
between its colonial legacy and democratic
aspirations.
Celebrated at numerous international festivals,
Bensmaïl continues with The Arab his exploration of
identities and imaginaries across the
Mediterranean. Through this new film, he questions
the image of “the Arab” in a world in crisis,
remaining true to his commitment to a cinema that
is political, poetic, and deeply human.
Filmography
| 2021 | All Algeria in the Wordl | Theater | |
| 2017 | The Battle of Algiers, a Film Within History | Theater | |
| 2015 | Checks and Balances | Theater | |
| 2013 | Ulysse, the Harraga | Regie | |
| 2012 | 1962, the Indepandance Year | Regie | |
| 2011 | Secret War of the FLN | Regie | |
| 2010 | China is Still Far Away | Theater | |
| 2004 | Alienations | Theater | |
| 2003 | Algerie(s) | Regie | |
| 2002 | The Bath of This Floating World | Regie | |
| 2001 | The Holidays Depsit Ill | Regie | |
| 2000 | Dêmokratia | Regie | |
| 1999 | Boudiaf, a Hope Assassinated | Regie | |
| 1998 | Decibled | Regie | |
| 1997 | Algerian TV Show | Regie |
- Music Composer
- Rabaeus Nicolas
- Producer
- Zertal Hachemi
- Premel Fred
- Writer
- Fieschi Jacques
- Bensmail Malek
- Editor
- Bretaud Matthieu
- Gregory Julia
- Director of Photography
- Porte Gilles
- Kerguistel Lionel-yan