CULTURAL NEWS

Djaâfar Gacem's "Héliopolis" to compete in Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

ALGIERS- The film "Héliopolis" by director Djaâfar Gacem has been chosen for the second time to represent Algeria at the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), said the Algerian Cinématheque in a statement.

Chaired by director Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina, the Algerian committee at the Ministry of Culture and Arts, made up of director Belkacem Hadjadj, director Rachid, director Yasmine Chouikh, director of the Cinémathèque, Salim Aggar, actor Faouzi Saichi and musician and composer Salim Dada, chose the film Héliopolis among three other films, namely "Sisters" by Yamina Benguigui, "Argo" by Ammar Belkacemi and "Jennia" by Bahloul Abdelkrim, the same source said.

Produced by the Algerian Centre for the Development of Cinema (CADC), under the Ministry of Culture and Arts, this film has been chosen to represent Algeria at the 93rd at the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic which prevented its screening, its director withdrew it from the competition, the source added.