mise-en-scène (scene 1) is part of Standing Here Wondering Which Way to Go (2019)

Overview

Between the 1960s and the late 1980s, the Algerian film industry flourished in an anti-colonial environment, giving rise to a nation of politically aware film lovers. Since then, however, the film industry and archives in Algeria have suffered due to the political and economic situation. This short video work consists of several sequences of found footage from various militant films made in Algeria from the 1960s onwards. The archive material was edited for this show to create a new narrative. Some sequences are reminiscent of politically engaged action in this country that was one of the African nations where liberation movements flourished most freely. Other parts of the footage show traces of time as a result of the deterioration in the film’s chemical composition and emulsion, resulting in abstract images with granular textures.