ACADEMIC DAY ON ALGERIAN CINEMA CLUBS AND THEIR ROLE IN DISSEMINATING CINEMATIC CULTURE
Minister of Culture and Arts, Dr. Souria Mouloudji, inaugurated the academic day on Algerian cinema clubs and their role in disseminating in the Cinematheque Hall. In her speech, the minister praised the efforts made to organize the cinematic community, encompassing various creative genres, to establish the tradition of cinema clubs. This tradition is expected to contribute to fostering a new dynamism in our artistic culture through constructive critical dialogue, aiming to spread cinematic culture among both cinema enthusiasts and the general public eager to cultivate artistic and cognitive tastes.
The minister emphasized that the cultural and arts sector, through promoting cinema clubs in the country, underscores the Algerian government's commitment to elevating the seventh art to the desired level in the era of technological competition and rapid developments in audiovisual fields. This direction is consistently affirmed and prioritized by President Abdelmajid Tebboune, with a focus on advancing the cinematographic industry in the country while preserving our authenticity, identity, national memory, and cultural heritage. The minister outlined the comprehensive strategy developed by the Ministry of Culture and Arts to enhance the seventh art and support cinematic experiences, including training, assistance, and backing, in line with the perspective outlined by Algerian cinema industry experts.
To achieve the pivotal goals of cinema clubs, the minister appealed to all stakeholders in the cinematic field to contribute to enriching and supporting this initiative. She announced the establishment of the National Network of Cinema Clubs, bringing together various cinema clubs nationwide. The Algerian Cinematography Center, which opened an office for the technical secretariat of this network, will support and accompany this initiative. The Ministry of Culture and Arts will also support this initiative through specialized training courses for club facilitators, in collaboration with relevant institutions, to enhance the cultural and artistic scene and stimulate cinematic production and distribution.
The academic day on Algerian cinema clubs featured several presentations by experts in the field, such as Ahmed Bjaoui, who shared his extensive experience with cinema clubs. Dr. Faisal Sahbi addressed cinematic culture and the audience, while Mohamed Korti discussed the experience of cinema clubs in the Mascara region from 1984 to 2023, and Ahcen Krouche presented the experience of cinema clubs in Béjaïa from 2003 to 2023.
The second session of the academic day, moderated by Adel Mekhelfia, the director of the Algerian Cinematography Center, presented the experiences and trajectories of various cinema clubs in Algeria through interventions by club representatives from different regions. The evening session included workshops with specialists and the screening of the restored version of the Algerian film "Long Live Dedo" by the late director Mohamed Zinet. The day concluded with recommendations and proposals from the participants.