A joyful and nostalgic love letter to the Algiers of French filmmaker Alexandre Arcady’s youth, this enchanting semi-autobiographical drama recreates the vibrant Mediterranean city of the late 1950s to early 1960s. Fifteen-year-old Antoine’s (Léo Campion) coming-of-age is filled with the antics of his father, an ex-French Foreign Legion soldier with dubious claims to Hungarian nobility (Christian Berkel, “Valkyrie”), his beautiful, resilient Algerian Jewish mother (Marie Gillain, “Coco Before Chanel”), and a lively, quirky extended family. In his neighborhood where Jews, Muslims and Christians have lived together for generations, Antoine falls for Josette, the clever girl upstairs, and even harder for the storytelling power of cinema. But as Algeria’s fight for independence intensifies, Antoine’s idyllic world is threatened by growing unrest and the uncertain fate of his close-knit Jewish community.
Years later, Antoine (played as an adult by Patrick Mille), now a famous filmmaker, returns to Algiers with his son to premiere his new film, a stirring reflection on his childhood in Algeria. As he retraces his steps through the city that shaped him, he revisits a vivid tapestry of laughter, loss, family and identity. “Le Petit Blond de la Casbah” is adapted from Alexandre Arcady’s memoir of the same name.
Born in Algiers in 1947, Arcady moved with his family to France as a teenager. He is a prolific filmmaker and several of his films have Jewish themes and characters, including “24 Days,” “What the Day Owes the Night” and “For a Woman” (NCJF premiere in 2014), which he made with his wife, the French-Jewish filmmaker Diane Kurys directing.
Directed by Alexandre Arcady, France, 2024, 128 minutes, French and Arabic with English subtitles. Winner of Best Film at the UK Jewish Film Festival. New England premiere.
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