The feature film "El-Wahrani" directed by Algerian filmmaker Lyes Salem will compete in the 8th Film Festival in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), scheduled from 23  October to 1 November 2014, organizers announced on the festival's website.
Produced in 2014, this second feature directed by Lyes Salem is selected among 19 films from Europe, Asia and Africa in the category "Afaq Jadida" (New Horizons), dedicated to the "first or second film of a filmmaker "characterized by "cool"style and "original" ideas, according to organizers.
This historical epic of 120mn describes the journey of two friends, Ja'far (Lyes Salem) and Hamid (Khaled Benaissa), comrades who meet at the end of the National liberation war to build, each in his own way, independent Algeria.
Co-produced by private companies "Leith Media", "Dharamsala" and the Algerian Agency for Cultural radiance (AARC), the film allowed Lyes Salem to win "Valois gold" price as Best Actor at the Festival of francophone Film of Angoulême (France) in August.