Occidental

58th TIFF: Greek Premiere

In this idiosyncratic endeavor of deconstructing genre norms, the staff of a downmarket Parisian hotel is led to a nervous breakdown, when two men ask to spend the night in the bridal suite. The hotel manager thinks they look suspicious and calls the police... While the streets are roaming with protests and barricades are on fire, the eccentric, yet claustrophobic setting of the hotel is shaken by homophobia, misogyny, islamophobia, and political manipulations: a funny and tangled story that encapsulates in its micro-universe the geopolitics of today’s Western world.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Neïl Beloufa

Script: Neïl Beloufa

Cinematography: Guillaume Le Grontec

Editing: Ermanno Corrado

Sound: Arno Ledoux, François Bailly

Music: Grégoire Bourdeil, Alexandre Geindre

Actors: Idir Chender, Paul Hamy, Anna Ivacheff, Hamza Meziani, Brahim Tekf

Production: Bad Manner's & Atelier Neïl Beloufa

Producers: Idir Chender, Paul Hamy, Anna Ivacheff, Louise Orry-Diquéro, Hamza Meziani, Brahim Tekfa

Co-production: Le Fresnoy studio national des arts contemporain

Art Direction: Dan Perez

Costumes: Mariette Niquet-Rioux

Sets: Florian Fournier, Sarah Philouze

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: France

Production Year: 2017

Duration: 73΄

Contact: MPM Film

Neïl Beloufa

Born in 1985, Neïl Beloufa is a French-Algerian artist and director who lives and works in Paris and New York. His films and videos were awarded at Oberhausen 54th (Arte prize for best short film) and 57th (Grand Prize) festival and Indie Lisboa (Great prize, 2009). His artworks have been displayed internationally including solo shows at the MoMA (New-York, 2016), the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, 2013), and the Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2012). He also took part in the 55th Venice Biennale. Occidental is his first fiction feature film. Self-produced and shot in his studio in Paris suburbs. The set of the movie then became an art center for one year before it got dismantled.