Past Film/Video | Documentaries | Classics

The Women

(Elles, Ahmed Lallem, 1966, Algeria)

Stream | US Premiere

Making its US premiere, Ahmed Lallem’s 1966 documentary captures the perspectives of Algeria's young women as their country emerges from French colonial rule.

Filmed only four years after Algeria won its independence from over 100 years of colonial oppression, The Women records the burning questions and visions of the future expressed by young Algerian women, many still in high school, as they embark on a new chapter in their country’s history. With the help of the legendary filmmaker Sarah Maldoror as assistant director, Ahmed Lallem interviewed over 40 people, mostly women, and was invited to attend in-class discussions where students examine their lives and share their aspirations with each other and their teachers. In 1996 Lallem released a follow-up film titled Algerian Women, 30 Years Later, where he reconnects with several of the students included in The Women and prompts them to reflect on their younger selves and the futures they had not yet experienced.

Showing for the first time in the US, this film was digitized and preserved by the Cinémathèque française. In Arabic and French with English subtitles. (22 mins., video)

A black and white photo of two female smiling.

Image courtesy of Cinémathèque française

multiple female students sitting behind their desks in the classroom

Image courtesy of Cinémathèque française

A black and white photo of two females.

Image courtesy of Cinémathèque française

A black-and-white photo of a short-haired female with both of her hands up.

Image courtesy of Cinémathèque française

Organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts and curated by Ohio State History of Art graduate student Dareen Hussein and Film/Video Curatorial Assistant Layla Muchnik-Benali.

This series was made possible with support from the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme Fellowship.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
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ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
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WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
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Past Film/Video

The Women