Daughter of Keltoum

Directed by Mehdi Charef
Algeria, 2001
Arabic and French with English subtitles
101 minutes
35mm

A young woman, Rallia, raised in Switzerland, travels to an isolated and barren Berber settlement located in the rocky Atlas Mountains of Algeria. Rallia's journey is one of multi-tiered discovery in terms of her relationship to her extended family, traditional Berber culture, and her desperate need to locate her biological mother. Through her eyes, the viewer is immersed in a world virtually untouched by contemporary society, one that still clings to tribal mores and strict religious codes of conduct.

Daughter of Keltoum was featured at the Toronto Film Festival, Karlovy Vary Film Festival and received the SIGNIS Jury Award at the Milan African Film Festival.

Daughter of Keltoum is part of the Global Film Initiative’s Global Lens series, which includes ten international films. It was selected by an advisory committee consisting of high school educators, a high school student and representatives from UW-Madison's Language Institute and Arts Institute.

Download the Daughter of Keltoum study guide (PDF)

About the Filmmaker

 Mehdi Charef was born in Maghnia, Algeria in 1952. His father left for France, to work in road construction, and sent for his family when Mehdi was about 10.

The Charef children grew up in the complex world of émigrés, in the ghettos and slums around Paris. Mehdi trained as a mechanic, and worked in a factory until his first novel Le Thé au Harem d’Archimède (Tea in the Harem) was published in 1983. He later adapted his novel into a feature film under the famous filmmaker Constantin Costa-Gavras. Charef received many awards for this inaugural effort. Since then, he has made numerous feature films, most often creating character portraits of women. He currently lives in France and continues his work as a novelist and filmmaker.

--Global Film Initiative

Mehdi Charef and Baya Bellal will also participate in activities sponsored by the Professional French Masters Program and the Department of French and Italian.