Houria (Algerian-French) Dance. Restoration. Defiance. (If you loved the film RISE this is one to see)

Houria Film Trailer HERE

Houria (a name meaning "freedom" in Arabic) is a modern young woman who practices ballet relentlessly with a view to being accepted within the Alegrian National Ballet.  This will get her out of her circumstances.  She lives with her mother Sabrina who’s also a dancer and who performs at weddings. Houria's best friend Sonia is getting ready to travel to Spain illegally which Houria hopes to avoid by pursuing her dreams.

A violent incident shatters Houria's dreams but she finds her feet again by teaching other victims of violence the beauty of dance.  Bonds and new friendships are formed as well as a new direction.

Director Mounia Meddour delivers a touching and powerful  story in Houria and offers another wonderful role to her brilliant lead actress Lyna Khoudri.

Her second feature peers even further into the  place occupied by women (notably youngsters) in Algerian society which the director offered up in Papicha, but this time the wonder of dance is the vehicle that helps to deliver the themes here.

It featurtes great music and dance sequences and has plenty of woman to woman humour that is universal and easily appreciated. It premiered in

"Push against the ground, don’t collapse".  is the theme here and lovers of the film RISE which we screened the year before last will applaud this film too.

"A story of rebuilding, resistance, and sisterhood, this time with dance as an escape valve and a space for freedom." Fotogramas

"All of a sudden, the spectator is made one with what they see on the screen". El Mundo

Official Selection Arras Film Festival