Amar Laskri

Amar Laskri, born in Aïn Berda (Algeria) and died May 1, 2015 in Algiers, is an Algerian filmmaker. He studied theatre, radio, television and cinema in Belgrade between 1962 and 19662. After three short films, he contributed, by directing an episode, to the collective fiction film L'Enfer (1968 at ten years old) . He directed the Algerian Center for Art and the Cinematographic Industry (CAAIC) from 1996 to 1998, the year of its dissolution. One of his most famous films, described as "unbeatable" by El Watan, is "Patrol in the East". A scene from this film has even become "cult", taken up multiple times on the internet: it shows a lookout who shouts "Yaou Alikoum Men Guelma" to alert the fighters of the National Liberation Army, a cry echoed by the lookouts. He declared in 2011 that he was considering making a film on Frantz Fanon, but he hesitated between choosing a fictional form (which would compromise the distribution of the film, Algeria having few cinemas) and a documentary which could television. The film remained in draft form. When he died, the daily El Watan described him as "the figurehead of Algerian cinema." His work is marked by the theme of the Algerian War.