THE LAST QUEEN
Algeria, 1516. The pirate Aruj Barbarossa frees Algiers from Spanish tyranny but then seizes power over the kingdom. Against all odds, one woman stands up to him – Queen Zaphira – in a remarkable story of personal and political female resistance. Algeria’s first ever costume drama, this film is groundbreaking because it changes the focus away from the Algerian War 1954-62 and the political violence of the 1990s, the two dominant subjects in Algerian cinema, to consider a much earlier period when the country became incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.
“a pulsating portrait of a heroine from the past, boast[ing] sumptuous period costumes and sets, well-choreographed fight sequences and strong-willed female characters…” CineEuropa
FOLLOWED BY a Q&A with co-director Damien Ounouri led by Martin Evans.
This event is part of:
Resistance Cultures from the Global South
Over two nights CINECITY explores 1970s and 1980s film and music rebel cultures in Algeria and Jamaica as exemplars of wider resistance perspectives from the Global South.
Curated by Professor Martin Evans (University of Sussex) for the Resistance Studies Network at Sussex and the Middle East and North African Centre at Sussex (MENACS).
Supported by Black@Sussex, University of Sussex
https://www.cine-city.co.uk/event/the-last-queen/