Mustapha Badie

Biography

Director and actor born in Algiers, Arezki Berkouk (أرزقي برقوق) made his debut in the municipal troupe of the Arab theater of the Algiers Opera, created by Mahieddine Bachtarzi and Mustapha Kateb, before acquiring training at the former RTF . At independence, under the name Mustapha Badie, he shot Our Mothers, a feature-length drama inspired by "Children of the Casbah", the play by Abdelhalim Raïs. With "La Nuit a Peur du Soleil" then, in the form of an imposing fresco lasting more than three hours for the cinema, he set about rereading Algerian society during the decade 1952-1962. In four scenes (“The Earth Was Thirsty”, “The Paths to the Prison”, “Story of Saliha” and “Story of Fatma”), Mustapha Badie does not hesitate to say a lot in a single film. He does it again with "The Escape of Hassan Terro", based on the character of Rouïched, but it is above all the success of the soap opera "El Harik" (The Fire), adapted from Mohamed Dib's trilogy "The Big House ", "L'Incendie" and "Le Metier à Tisser", for the small screen in 10 episodes, which earned it exceptional popular success and immortalized in passing the character of La Aïni, by propelling its interpreter, the actress Chafia Boudraa, towards notoriety. While continuing to film 'Le Chant du Souvenir', 'Kenza', then 'Hassan Ibn Ali' for television, Mustapha Badie remained a discreet artisan like many artists and technicians of his generation who no longer found their brands in a country in turmoil. The artist bowed out on June 27, 2001 in Algiers, following a long illness.