Zawya…an electronic platform that documents Algerian cinema

Sudan Events – Agencies

The Algerian cinematic and cultural circles witnessed the launch of a new electronic platform concerned with Algerian cinematic and television affairs, called “Zawya”, which aims to document and promote Algerian cinematic and television production from independence to the present day, according to what its administrators stated.
Dhahabia Mishdal, one of the founders of this platform, said that “Zawya” is an initiative that “works to create a comprehensive database on Algerian film and television production, from independence to the present day to be a complete Algerian reference for the benefit of Algerians and foreigners that relate to Algerian film and television production.
She revealed that this platform provides a detailed catalog of Algerian films and series, specifying the names of their directors, production date, duration, cast, posters, promotional videos, and other information about them. It also includes a database about many actors, directors, technicians, and other active workers currently in the field of cinema and television in Algeria, including their professional biographies and the works in which they participated.
In addition to collecting and documenting data, this platform also covers news of Algerian or co-produced films and series, as well as participation in various festivals, as well as news of awards, support funds, backstage events, casting competitions, and others.
Mishdal explained that the website of this platform can be browsed through the website dzawaya.com, which is currently under development.
In addition to the Arabic and French languages, “the platform will also be available in English soon,” and in this context, producers can record their films with it, and actors, directors and other professionals of different artistic orientations may also record their data on it.
In addition to Mishdal, a journalist interested in cinema, film producer Mehdi Benbahou and Cameroonian film producer residing in Algeria, Yombi Narcissus, also participated in launching this new platform.
The history of cinema in Algeria goes back to the first beginnings of world cinema. Algeria has been a theater for cinema since its inception in the late nineteenth century, when the Lumière brothers commissioned the photographer Felix Mesghech to photograph scenes from Algeria. The list of tapes was long and was shown in 1897, including “Algeria,” “The Muezzin’s Call,” “Government Square,” “The Port,” as well as “Views from Tlemcen.”
The Algerian landscape attracted many famous silent cinema directors such as Jacques Veyder and Jean Renoir in the 1920s. After the spread of sound cinema in Europe, Julien Duvivier and Christian Jacques filmed two important films in Algeria: “Golgota” (1934) and “One of the Battalion” (1937).
After Algeria’s independence, the cinema movement expanded and achieved impressive successes, perhaps the most important of which was director Lakhdar Hamina winning the award for best cinematic work at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966 for his film “The Wind of the Euras,” and winning the Palme d’Or in 1975 for the film “Chronicles of the Years of Embers.”