Malek Bensmaïl — Director | Biography, Movies & Career

Biography

Malek Bensmaïl (in Arabic: مالك بن اسماعيل), born in 1966 in Constantine, Algeria, is an Algerian director and screenwriter.

In the 1980s, in Algeria, he made essay films in super 8. After studying cinema in Paris followed by an internship in the Lenfilm studios in Saint Petersburg, he devoted his filmography to documentaries, entirely committed to Algeria. Through his films of reality, he draws the contours of a complex humanity: democracy, modernity-tradition, language, identity, society.

In 1996, he released Territoire(s), a documentary essay on archaic violence in the Arab world and post-modern violence in the West, the film won the Loupbar, the prize for best documentary discovery at the Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal and the Television prize at Avança/Porto. The same year, for Canal+, he made a short docu-fiction film that tells the story of the self-mockery of viewers towards the unique television: Algerian TV Show, he also made one of the cult programs Culture Pub on Algeria.

In 1998, Malek Bensmaïl released the film Décibled, on the daily life of five Algerian musicians in exile. In 1999, he co-directed a film on Mohammed Boudiaf, the Algerian president who was assassinated, six months after his return from 30 years of exile. In 2000, he made Des Vacances Malgré Tout, which won the Heritage Prize at the Festival du Cinéma du réel. In 2001, he made a short fiction film Dêmokratia broadcast on Arte and the BBC. In 2002, he directed Plaisirs d'Eau, then in 2003, he co-directed with the journalist Thierry Leclere Algérie(s), an investigative documentary film in two parts on the Algerian black decade and the descent into hell of the Algerian people.

In 2004, he paid tribute to his father, one of the founders of Algerian psychiatry, by directing Aliénations, which won the Grand Prix des Bibliothèques at the Festival du Cinéma du Réel in Paris, the Grand Prix du documentaire at the Biennale des Cinémas Arabes in Paris, the Magnolia Award for best documentary at the Shanghai International Festival and received the special jury prize at Fespaco. In 2005, he directed the film Le Grand Jeu, on the Algerian presidential campaign of 2004 which re-elected Abdelaziz Bouteflika with 85%. The film is censored to this day in France and Algeria. In 2008, he released the documentary China Is Still Far Away.

In 2009, he was awarded the Villa Kujoyama Prize in Kyoto and participated in the Cinéfondations at the Cannes Film Festival with his fictional screenplay Odysseys. In 2010, he directed the documentary Guerres Secrètes du FLN en France for France 2. In 2012, he co-directed with M. Colonna a documentary for France 3 and RTBF, 1962, from French Algeria to Algerian Algeria. In 2013, he directed Ulysses, Le Brûleur De Frontières Et La Mer Blanche Du Milieu for the inaugural exhibition Méditerranées/Marseille, Capitale Culturel de l'Europe 2013. In 2014, Malek Bensmail directed the documentary workshop at La FEMIS. In 2015, he directed Contre-Pouvoirs for the cinema, a dive into the editorial staff of the daily El Watan in Algiers, during the last presidential elections that validated Bouteflika's 4th term. World premiere at Locarno Film Festival. In 2017, he released the film The Battle of Algiers, A Film in History.

Since 2020, named Member of the Academy of Oscars.