Algeria Film Watch No. 1 – October 2026

 

The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) is presenting its programmes and funding opportunities on a tour of Algeria. First stop was Béjaïa on 1 October, followed by two meetings in Algiers: Saturday 3 October at La Chambre Claire, and Sunday 4 October, from 7:00 to 9:30 pm, at Mon Autre École.
AFAC website

 

The 21st Rencontres cinématographiques de Béjaïa ran from 27 September to 1 October at the Cinémathèque. The festival brought together 32 films from 15 countries, including 6 documentaries. The opening night screened Alea jacarandas by Hassen Ferhani. A special session presented The Sea Road to Gaza, a documentary by Tunisian director Olfa Lamloum. Workshops covered sound, digital restoration and production, and the restoration of the 1961 short Yasmina began during the festival.
Read the Express DZ article

 

Yanis Koussim’s film is Algeria’s submission for the Best International Feature Oscar at the 99th ceremony on 14 March 2027. It premiered in Venice Critics’ Week and won Best Director at Thessaloniki. Watermelon Pictures acquired US rights, and the film has been available since 29 September to rent or buy digitally in the United States (Amazon Video, Apple TV, Fandango at Home). Elsewhere in the region, Egypt picked The Stories and Palestine the documentary Citizen Osama. The 15-film shortlist comes out on 15 December.
Arab films in the running · Screen Daily

 

Malek Bensmaïl’s first fiction feature, adapted from Kamel Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête. After its world premiere in Rotterdam in January, in the Big Screen Competition, the film was selected in Moscow, Sydney, Shanghai, Angoulême and Warsaw. It won Best Narrative Feature at the Arab Film Festival in Minneapolis (United States). It opens in French cinemas on 4 November, distributed by Les Films des Deux Rives.
Director’s website · Cineuropa review

The 2nd Timimoun International Short Film Festival takes place from 5 to 10 November. It received 3,265 films for four competitions: fiction, documentary, animation and African short film, with the Gourara d’Or at stake. The call for films is closed. Beforehand, the Gourara Lab, a development lab for Algerian projects, holds its first stage from 4 to 9 October for the projects selected from 48 applications.
Festival overview · Gourara Lab

 

The second CineMarket takes place from 7 to 11 December at Office Riadh El Feth, during the 13th Algiers International Film Festival (5 to 12 December). It is open to Algerian production companies with a film at picture lock: shorts, features, documentaries, animation. Ten projects will be selected, with accommodation covered for participants from outside Algiers, and two completion awards. In 2025, the documentary award went to Djamel Lekhal.
Call page

 

The call for projects, open since 1 February, funds production and co-production (documentaries included), post-production, writing, distribution and exhibition. Applications go to the CNCA in Algiers, in two copies, paper and digital. Applicants must contribute financially and must never have received public funding before.
Call details

 

A research and creation residency run by the Institut français de Tunisie, lasting about a month. It welcomes artists living on the African continent outside Tunisia, which includes Algeria, and creators living in France. Film is one of the eligible disciplines. Application languages: French, English or Arabic. Deadline: 18 October 2026, before midnight.
Call page

 

For co-productions between a French company and a foreign partner, for a film of at least 60 minutes, documentaries included. The director must be a foreign national. Pre-production support up to €300,000, post-production support up to €70,000. Next submission date: 23 November 2026, according to the CNC page.
CNC page

 

Up to €40,000 for a creative documentary of at least 60 minutes, at late production stage or beyond. A European co-producer from a MEDIA country is required, with a minority share of 20 to 50%. Delivery before 1 December 2027. The 2027 regulations are still being drafted.
IBF Europe page

 

Algeria is among the countries eligible for DFI funding, which supports feature and short documentaries and series. The fall cycle closed on 2 July. The spring 2026 cycle opened in early January, which points to an opening in early 2027, with no date announced.
Funding page

 

Residencies in the United States (1 to 3 months, film included, open to all nationalities but a French partner is required) closed on 29 January 2026. No next call has been announced. Keep it on your radar.
2027 call

 

9th edition. The CineGouna Platform runs from 16 to 22 October and distributes over $300,000 in funding and services to Arab and African projects.
Overview

 

47th edition. Cairo Film Connection closed applications on 3 August. It is open to Arab directors with at least one film behind them. Watch the list of selected projects to spot the Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan ones.
CFC 2026 call

 

37th edition of the JCC in Tunis. Submissions for the official competitions, documentary included, closed on 22 September.
Announcement

Amine Kabbes’ documentary “Today Is the End, But the End Isn’t Here Yet” (Debza Films) is among the projects supported by AFAC’s 2026 Documentary Film program. The project came through NextDoc, the documentary production workshop organised by Dima Cinema and Libre Image, in partnership with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Algeria and in close collaboration with Mon Autre École.