Barbès, little Algérie by Hassan Guerrar, with Fianso: Our opinion and the trailer

Hassan Guerrar unveils his first film, Barbès, little Algérie, in cinemas on October 16, 2024. Sofiane Zermani, aka Fianso, plays Malek, a forty-year-old binational who moves to Montmartre and is about to discover a world hitherto unknown to him: Barbès. With his nephew, Ryiad(Khalil Gharbia), recently arrived from Algeria, they explore this northern Paris neighborhood, home to a large part of the capital's Algerian community.

While Amélie Poulain may have been criticized for depicting a"postcard Montmartre", "emptied" ofthe minorities that make up the charm of this corner of Paris, it would seem that Hassan Guerrar has opted for the perfect opposite, showing Barbessians in all their richness and diversity.

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Malek's encounters with local figures (most of them colorful characters) enable him to rediscover a part of himself that had been buried, and to reconcile himself with his origins. Filmed during the Covid health crisis, Barbès is shown to us as rarely seen - devoid of its inhabitants - but how true is it?

With a lot of soul - and the complicity ofAudrey Diwan, the film'sco-writer - Hassan Guerrar emphasizes the fraternity, solidarity and mutual aid shown by the inhabitants of Barbès, who easily manage to put aside their differences of belief for the common good. Malek is involved with a food aid association, while one of the local residents goes out of his way to help undocumented immigrants.

But underneath its small village airs, where the Mistral might just as well be blowing, what is the reality of the Barbès that Parisians of all stripes rub shoulders with on a daily basis? Isn't this vision a little too watered-down ? A veritable social drama, Barbès little Algérie may suffer from a slightly too shimmery color scheme, music that's a little too present, and a camera that's a little too in love with Fianso's beautiful eyes for us to really believe it. But after all, in this world where everyone looks at their fellow man out of the corner of their eye, why not?

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