Film guide 2009
Harragas
Young people preparing a clandestine sea crossing place their hopes on the uncertain distance to Spain.
- Original title
- Harragas
- Director
- Merzak Allouache
- Year
- 2009
Editorial profile. Availability on LAREINE TV has not been confirmed.
Story, without spoilers
On the coast at Mostaganem, a smuggler organises a small group’s departure for Spain. Rachid, Nasser and Imène are among those drawn into the journey. Preparations and the voyage expose the gap between an imagined future elsewhere and the danger of reaching it by sea.
Context & recognition
Merzak Allouache developed the story through research and encounters with young people. Handheld digital photography gives this fiction a documentary approach, with coastal preparations filmed in Mostaganem and sea sequences near Sète.
Main characters & cast
Rachid
Nabil Asli
A young man taking part in the planned crossing.
Nasser
Seddik Benyagoub
Another young traveller seeking a passage to Spain.
Imène
Lamia Boussekine
A young woman who joins the group’s journey.
