The mapping fictions of Tariq Teguia: A political cinema of sensations
Born in Algiers in 1966, Tariq Teguia studied philosophy and photography before dedicating himself to filmmaking. Between 1992 and 2002, he directed four short films evoking the isolation of Algerian youth trapped in a territory beset by an underground war without a front line. Drawing attention at the Berlinale with La Clôture (2003), Tariq Teguia began directing, outside the traditional film industry circuit, a trilogy of “mapping” fictions: the first roams, like his characters haunted by the desire to flee to the North, a suburb of Algiers under construction (Rome plutôt que vous, 2006, Orrizonti Festival, Mostra Venice), whereas Inland (2008, also shown at the Venice Film Festival), re-anchors Algeria to its continent and looks to the South, the heart of the country, and Révolution Zendj (2013, Grand Prix at the Entrevues Belfort Festival), whose filming began just before “the Arab Spring”, puts it back into a wider space, the Mediterranean world, stirred up by new struggles for emancipation. Considered as one of the most important Algerian filmmakers of his generation, Tariq Teguia captures societies under construction in powerful films, in which he attempts to merge “form and substance, ideas and sensations”.