The 21st Béjaïa Film Meetings opened on Saturday with a programme of 32 films scheduled to screen through 1 October, according to Algérie Patriotique. The selection spans feature films, shorts and documentaries from around 15 countries.
The opening ceremony took place at the Béjaïa cinematheque. Hakim Abdelfettah, artistic director of the event organised by the Project’heurts association, described the meetings as “a moment to exchange and share films with the public.”
Screenings and filmmakers
The programme includes seven features, 19 short films and six documentaries. The represented countries include Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Palestine and Côte d’Ivoire.
The opening screening was “Alea jacarandas” by Hassen Ferhani. The film follows the filmmaker’s father, journalist and writer Ameziane Ferhani, through the streets of Algiers, tracing a poetic map of the city’s jacaranda trees, the report said.
A special afternoon screening featured “The Sea Road to Gaza,” a documentary by Tunisian filmmaker Olfa Lamloum about the Sumud flotilla, which departed in September 2025 in an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza.
Workshops and film archives
Alongside the screenings, the Béjaïa Film Meetings programme includes cinema cafés and roundtables on intellectual property and the revival of film archives.
Training began on Friday at Béjaïa’s House of Culture with a two-day introduction to documentary sound creation. A digital film-restoration workshop opened on Saturday morning. Organisers plan to restore the 1961 short film “Yasmina,” directed by Djamel Chanderli and Mohamed-Lakhdar Hamina, during the workshop and screen it at the closing event, according to the report.
Further workshops on studio acting, film marketing and film production are also planned.
Sami B. is the founder and editor of Algeria News Gate, an independent English-language platform covering Algeria’s political, economic, and business developments. Based in Europe, he reports on official announcements, economic trends, and international relations involving Algeria.