143 Sahara Street

143 Sahara Street is a fascinating and mysterious documentary where we follow the life around a café situated in the middle of the Algerian Sahara Desert. We hear the wind blow and see how it rips into the landscape, fading the blue paint on the inside of Malika’s café – a small stone house by the highway going through the desert. Drivers and travelers stop by to drink tea, have a cigarette, rest or exchange words with the middle-aged owner. Will the plans for a new petrol station across the street change her way? Or will the charm and calm of Malika’s keep the business running?

Cato Fossum

Director

Hassen Ferhani (b. 1986) is an Algerian filmmaker from Algiers. Only twenty years old he made his first short film The Bays of Algiers, and several short films later came his first documentary In My Head a Roundabout in 2016. Several of his films have been shown at international festivals.