Checks and Balances
France 2015 | 97 Min. | OmeU
If you talk about the system of checks and balances, or the separation of powers, in Algeria, you are immediately stamped as a provocateur, says Malek Bensmaïl. Those who are in favor of a balance of power must take a clear stand against the dominating state elite. This is exactly what the newspaper El Watan has done since it was founded, both in times of war and peace. In the spring of 2014, Bensmaïl visited the editorial office of the most important French-language newspaper in Algeria, during the campaign for the upcoming presidential election in which Abd al-Aziz Bouteflika was campaigning for his fourth term in office. More and more people were beginning to regard Bouteflika as a symbol of an authoritarian political climate, corruption, and reform gridlock. The question of an opportunity for change dominates the editors’ discussions. The camera accompanies the journalists in editorial staff meetings, shows them consulting the layout designer, and follows them in discussions about more freedom, reforms, and most importantly a future without Bouteflika. That the newspaper team often does not agree about the right approach or the right way forward make this film gripping from the start. For Malek Bensmaïl, the work done by the journalists represents a kind of social ideal – as a process of democratic participation in social change. But processes take time. The new representative headquarters of the newspaper El Watan have been under construction for years, and although they are intended as a symbol of freedom of the press in Algeria, so far there are only naked walls.
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Malek Bensmaïl geb. 1966 in Algerien. Er studierte Film in Paris und lernte in den Lenfilm Studios in Sankt Petersburg. Filme u.a. ULYSSE (2013, Film und Installation), SECRET WAR OF THE FLN (2012,) LA CHINE EST ENCORE LOIN (2010), LE GRAND JEU (2005), ALIENATIONS (2004), ALGERIAS BLOODY YEARS (2003), DES VACANCES MALGRÉ (2001), DÊMOKRATIA (2000), BOUDIAF (1999), DECIBLED (1998), TERRITORIES (1996).
