French and Francophone StudiesSlought, 4107 Walnut Street
Penn Departments of Cinema & Media Studies and Francophone, Italian, & Germanic Studies, in collaboration with Slought, Unifrance, and Villa Albertine, present Pour la France (For My Country) with Director Rachid Hami in person!
Pour la France | For My Country
Rachid Hami, 2022, France, French w/ English subtitles, 113 min
Aissa, a young officer of Algerian origin, tragically loses his life during a fresher initiation ritual at the prestigious French military academy of Saint-Cyr. As the death tears through his family, controversy arises over Aissa’s funeral plans when the Army refuses to take responsibility. Ismael, his older, rebellious brother, tries to keep the family united as they fight to win justice for Aissa.
Born in 1985, Rachid Hami fled the Algerian civil war with his mother and brothers to find a better future in France. In 2003, Rachid Hami met Abdellatif Kechiche and later Arnaud Desplechin who supported his ambition to become a filmmaker. Following his 2005 short film No Effect Without Cause, Rachid made the medium-length film Choosing Love in 2007, a modern Romeo and Juliet starring Louis Garrel and Leïla Bekhti. In 2016, Rachid Hami directed his first feature film Orchestra Class (La Mélodie), the story of Simon Daoud (Kad Merad), a distinguished and disillusioned violinist sent to teach the violin to a class of unruly students, which premiered in Venice.
