2023-09-27 09:19:28
Viviane Candas, French director, screenwriter and writer, is stepping up to the plate. This daughter of the anti-colonialist activist and lawyer of the FLN during the War of Liberation Yves Mathieu, denounces the blocking of the filming in Algeria of “The slave who became king”, a film for which she wrote the screenplay with Jean-Claude Carrière (died in 2021).
At issue: the “diversion” of the first tranche of financing for this film, granted in 2018 by the FDATIC, by the producer of Djinn Production, Khalid Djilali.
In an interview with TSA, the screenwriter denounces the relentlessness of which she is the victim from this producer whose name she reveals for the first time in a media and who, she says, has “vanished into thin air” with the money to be used for filming the first part of the film, i.e. 17.4 million dinars (100,000 euros).
Viviane Candas denounces the misappropriation of Algerian funding for her film
The facts date back to 2018 as reported by the director. “In December 2018, the Ministry of Culture granted this project a grant of 60 million Algerian dinars, the equivalent of 410,000 euros. The scenario was adapted to this project but many avatars postponed the start of filming (hirak, Covid pandemic, etc.). In March 2019, Djinn production, represented by Khalid Djilali, signed a majority-share delegate producer contract with the CADC (the Algerian Cinema Development Center). In June 2019, Djinn Production received the first tranche corresponding to the sum of 17.4 million dinars or 100,000 euros and disappeared into thin air.
The director says she is a victim of the theft and misappropriation of her project. “The producer is in France. He is unreachable. Its production company no longer has an official address. All letters sent by registered mail by bailiffs return to the sender. Khalid Djilali is blocking the situation because he refuses to withdraw in favor of the new producer: Bachir Derrais,” continues Viviane Candas.
This producer still holds the rights to my film, of which he took the liberty of changing the title (Zumurrud) and director, in 2021, in order to obtain the second tranche of funding from the FDATIC (National Fund for the Development of Industry cinematographic)”, further accuses the screenwriter.
Viviane Candas is calling for an unblocking of this situation. “I have been struggling for four years to get the filming of “The Slave Who Became King” to begin. Khalid Djilali disappeared into thin air refusing to return the money from the first tranche granted by the Ministry of Culture. A scam which hinders the realization of this cinematographic project! “.
“The slave who became king”: the synopsis
In a public square, women and children are sold into slavery. A little girl tries to escape then slits her throat, while a beautiful black slave, Zumurrud, pushes away rich clients to offer herself to a ruined poet, Ali.
He takes him to the house where his dying father had urged him not to trust anyone. But Ali loves Zumurrud and they live happily.
Until the day when the merchant Rashid kidnaps the young woman and takes her to his estate where he locks her up with a pig. While Ali, despite the help of a neighbor, fails to free his beloved, the thief Jawân carries her on his horse to the lair guarded by his mother.
Escaping by trickery, Zumurrud sinks into a cave in the mountain. She then finds herself in the Sahara where she discovers traces of war and then sees herself pursued by a drone.
Recovering a rifle from a dead hunter, she takes on the appearance of a man. She continues her way to a palm grove where she is welcomed as successor to the king who died without an heir, because according to a particular custom, the first foreigner to come will ascend the throne.
Called to reign, Zumurrud renders fair judgments to the people. His courtiers, including the chamberlain and the butler, appreciate him.
Only the doctor suspects that she is a woman. Some time later, the drying up of the oasis fountain is attributed to the fact that the new king does not frequent his harem.
Summoned to choose a wife, Zumurrud sees the beautiful Sharzâd come to his aid who reveals to him that she is the heroine of one of his tales.
Zumurrud offering a feast to his people, sees Jawân then Rashîd arrive one after the other, chasing him. She tortures them spectacularly, her cruelty degrading her.
In the evening, she finds Ali who crossed seas and deserts to find her. A miracle then makes the water flow from the fountain. Zumurrud then announces to his courtiers that the price of this miracle is the sacrifice of his manhood. No longer wanting to reign, she leaves with Ali towards the south.
Who is Viviane Candas?
Born in 1954 in Paris, Viviane Candas is the daughter of Yves Mathieu, FLN lawyer. She grew up in Algiers, pursuing her secondary education at Lycée Descartes.
Vivianes Candas then studied visual arts in Aix en Provence before studying theater and cinema in Paris. In 2016, she released a documentary on her father “L’Algérie du possible” and in 2022 signed a documentary entitled ‘MarseilleS’. The director has also published two novels.
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