Movie-Database

Mohamed Ouzine

Biography

Mohamed Ouzine was born in 1972 in France as the son of an Algerian father and a Moroccan mother. He studied history and photography, and that piqued his interest in filmmaking. His first films explored sociological issues, such as UNE HEURE SEULEMENT (ONE HOUR ONLY) from 2001 about everyday life

in a prison and the relationships between the female inmates and their children. For CARAVANE (2003) he accompanied a group of Evangelical Roma on a pilgrimage through France. Since his film essay LIEU COMMUN (2007), his cinematic work has tended to focus more on his own roots, a theme he continues

with his documentary SAMIR DANS LA POUSSIÈRE (SAMIR IN THE DUST) from 2015. He – as the “uncle with camera from Europe” – paints a portrait of his nephew Samir, who works as a smuggler on the Algeria-Morocco border. His lonely existence leaves little room for romantic ideas of a life of freedom,

even if the trailer begins with the director’s voiceover: “You know where you’re going and you know where you’ve come from. Your origin and your roots are here.”

Filmography

LE VOYAGE DE KELTOUM & SAMIR DANS LA POUSSIÈRE : Guest

SAMIR DANS LA POUSSIÈRE (2015): Camera, Guest, Screenplay, Direction