INLAND (ALGERIA/2008/TARIQ TEGUIA)

While on a mission to provide electricity in a deserted area of west Algeria, topographer Malek discovers a community damaged by the religious intolerance of Islamic extremists. After encountering many of the local representatives, ranging from policemen to shepherds, Malek realises that the task at hand involves repairing more than just electricity. Over the course of a few evenings, Malek finds himself awoken by explosions, said to be cicadas landing on mines in the area, but a daytime investigation reveals another issue – refugees. When one woman attempts to hide out in Malek’s base camp, she unexpectedly draws him into a wild journey across the country, driven only by a desire to be lost and forgotten. The film is punctuated by darkly lit flashbacks to debates about class division and society’s priorities,

What grabs you immediately about Inland is the soundtrack, ranging from Afrobeat and raï to ambient electronica and indie rock. But although the diverse musical choices each add their own touch to the film, its most powerful moments are those which approach silence, a neat contrast with the wordy evening debates which sit awkwardly between scenes. The film eschews aesthetic complexity in favour of a more direct, realist approach – one particularly strong shot takes the journey of a train, inviting the viewer to survey and assess the landscape as is Malek’s responsibility. Reminiscent of Waiting For Happiness, Touki Bouki and even the exoticism of Woman of the Dunes, Inland is a bold drama with a subtle yet seductive rhythm.

DAYS OF GLORY (ALGERIA/2006/RACHID BOUCHAREB)

Algeria’s most recent Oscar nominee comes in the form of this action-packed look at the lives of the indigènes, the North African soldiers recruited to defend France from Nazi Germany. The film focuses specifically on four of these soldiers as they are sent to the front line. As in Saving Private Ryan, a film it is often drawn into comparison with, each of the men has their own personal goals which eventually get forgotten in the brutality of war, and the inherent racism of their fellow combatants.

At times, the image seems to suspend uncertainly, as if the soldiers aren’t sure where to take their lead from. Jamel Debbouze looks no less fresh-faced five years after his role as the naïve Lucien in Amélie. The film is no doubt important given the subject matter (after its release, the French government changed its policy to award indigènes the same pensions as French war veterans), but one can’t help thinking there is a better film to be made of it. Aside from the scene at the theatre, where the North African soldiers leave a ballet performance having not connected with it culturally, the film drains the image of all meaning, instead choosing to literally announce its anti-war stance. At several points, we hear the songs of the soldiers’ respective countries, as if that alone is meant to imbue us with guilt. Days of Glory is notable for its political impact, but the film itself is unlikely to be remembered in ten years.