Projects in development
Alicante
Synopsis
Assia, a 32-year-old Franco-Algerian photographer, has just broken up with her long-time American partner, with whom she had been living in New York City. Now she’s back in Paris, where she was raised. In a state of confusion, she starts to examine her desire to have a child. To escape such existential questions, she decides to join her family in Spain, where her parents have recently invested in a restaurant in a popular seaside resort near Alicante. The Algerian family feels right at home in the familiar topography of the region. This first season as restaurateurs in Spain has proven to be a real family adventure. Arriving at the airport in Alicante, Assia has no idea what she’s in for. What was meant to be a family vacation turns into a rescue operation for a fragile business and a shaky family equilibrium.
Director’s statement
In Alicante, I want to film the interactions among people who love each other and who are seeking their places—in their family, in modernity, and in the world. Two plots are intertwined. The first is Assia’s narrative, her existential framework, the questioning of her desire for motherhood, her bond with her family, her sense of responsibility toward them, and her relationship with identity, or rather identities. The second plot is that of a restaurant that's about to go under. Assia is the guide who opens the door to the other female characters in the foreground, and the male characters in the background.
Algeria will be treated as an absent elsewhere, constantly present in references and imagination. The film’s tone will oscillate between family drama and dramatic comedy, because in all our family stories, sometimes it's only humor and laughter that save us—or at least allow us to keep up appearances.
Biographies
Director and actor Lina Soualem was born in Paris. After studying history and political science at the Sorbonne, she worked as a programmer for the Buenos Aires International Human Rights Film Festival. She has directed the feature-length documentaries Their Algeria (2020) and Bye Bye Tiberias (2023), which have been presented at festivals including Visions du Réel and the Toronto and Venice International Film Festivals. She also writes fiction, documentary, and series projects.
Omar El Kadi was born in Beirut in 1989 and studied economics before devoting himself to film production and distribution. He worked at Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema and then at MC Distribution, where he became CEO in 2023.
Nadia Turincev was born in Moscow in 1970, raised in Paris, and began working in the film industry after studying ethnology. She co-founded Rouge International in 2007. Together with Omar El Kadi, she founded Easy Riders Films in 2019. The company has produced several award-winning films which have been presented at international festivals.
