Algeria / 2009 / 18mins / Comedy, Drama / Arabic

In Sektou / Ils se sont tus (They Stopped Speaking) a radio presenter sleeps like a log every morning after a night’s work. His intense dreams seem like nightmares, but what’s it like when he wakes up? An extremely lively and colorful picture of life in an Algerian town, with a slightly surrealistic tone.

Khaled Benaïssa

Khaled Benaïssa was born in 1978 in Annaba, Algeria. He spent much of his childhood in a theater alongside his father, an actor. He became passionate about set design while studying architecture, and during his studies he devoted much of his time to acting. While acting in short films, he discovered a passion for telling stories not only through his actions and words on screen, but also through a newfound desire to direct films. In 2006 he directed his first short film, Peur virtuelle, which was followed by Babel. He eventually studied cinema at the Université d'été de la Fémis in Paris. In 2007, together with Samir Messaoudi, he founded his own production company, PATIO. Learn More